No Good Deed
by x-Ice-Queen-x
Summary: SEQUEL TO FOR GOOD. Lexi Conrad's life has changed a lot. She's no longer got her parent's name to protect her, and her influence with her fellow Slytherins is gone, as is Draco's. Her 7th year is bound to be interesting. GW/OC AU FULL SUMMARY INSIDE.
1. 1: Empire Overthrown

Hello all! Well, here it is! The sequel to For Good!! If you haven't read For Good, you really really ought to before reading this. Obviously I'll give a little background in the beginning but there's a lot of things you won't understand unless you've read For Good.

**Title**: No Good Deed

**Pairing**: GW/OC, BZ/CC, DM/??

NOTE: This fic is most definitely AU.

**Timeframe**: HP&co's 7th year. Doesn't follow anything after OotP though.

**Summary**: Lexi Conrad's life has changed a lot. She's no longer got her parent's name to protect her, and her influence with her fellow Slytherins is gone, as is Draco's. Some people are a fan of those changes (George Weasley, for instance), but other more sinister forces will do anything to have their prodigal Slytherins back.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything you recognize from the HP books. Sorry!

**Chapter 1: Empire Overthrown**

Once, when I was a little girl, my mother took me to the ministry for the day to visit my father. While we were there, we ran into someone I would later be told was Arthur Weasley. At the time, my mother just sneered at him, muttering to me under her breath that he was a 'blood traitor'.

"What does that mean?" I asked, my innocent mind not knowing the animosity or hatred that consumed most of my parents time and energy at that point.

"Someone who sympathizes with those filthy Mudbloods." My mother spat. Of course I knew what Mudbloods were. According to my parents, they were awful. I'd never met one, naturally, but I wasn't too sure that I wanted to.

My mother then explained to me that as bad as Muggles and Mudbloods were, blood traitors were even worse. This was because Muggles and Mudbloods didn't know any better, or couldn't help being born what they were. Blood traitors, on the other hand, had every advantage in the world and chose to live in squalor, turning their backs on their own kind.

That's why for as much as any Death Eater hated Muggles or Muggle-borns, they hated 'blood traitors' almost ten times as much.

Unfortunately enough for me, that's exactly what I'd been categorized as recently.

I sighed and looked up at my best friend, Draco Malfoy. He too was about to walk into the unknown. Both of us coming from immensely influential families within the pureblood community, we were used to being waited on by practically everyone around us.

However, not only had Draco been tortured by his father only months ago, but I had, in turn, run away from home and the life that had been planned for me from the moment I was born. Lucius had died---at my hands---and Narcissa was in no state to even think about dealing with any of this. Last I'd heard she had locked herself up in Malfoy Manor, refusing to see anyone, even Voldemort.

Now that we were both essentially orphaned, Draco and I no longer had the prestige of our last names to rely on.

And while we both had a sinking suspicion that this would disrupt the political atmosphere of the Slytherin house greatly, we weren't sure what the damage would be.

And that's where my other best friend, Blaise Zabini, factored in. Blaise hadn't been forcefully thrust from the Slytherin aristocracy, and in an effort to keep both Draco and I safe from any real harm, had made an agreement with Dumbledore wherein Blaise would seemingly end his friendship with us and join whoever deemed themselves the new head of our peers.

"You ready, Lex?" Draco grabbed my hand and squeezed it, trying to reassure me.

"Of course. Can't wait to start another year at Hogwarts!" I rolled my eyes as we walked through the barrier.

It looked the same. It sounded the same. Everything seemed to be the same.

But I knew better.

"There are the Weasleys." I nudged Draco. We'd been staying with them---albeit unwillingly---for most of the summer, but had agreed to come to the station separately so that attention wouldn't be drawn to us unnecessarily.

I fought to keep a grin off my face as George Weasley caught my eye. George was probably a big factor in everything that had happened to me in the past year. Although I'd never really wanted to be a Death Eater, I'd never seriously considered an alternative until George made his way into my life. George made me happy and was there for me when no one else was. George and I had had an on-and-off relationship over the past year that seemed to be back in the on stage, hopefully for some time to come.

"And there's Blaise." Draco responded. It took everything in me not to run up to him as I normally would, but if he was insisting upon doing this, I certainly wouldn't blow his cover.

"It's going to be weird." I commented. Draco nodded.

"We'd better get a compartment." And with that, my 7th and final year at Hogwarts began.

* * *

It was as though we didn't exist.

Draco and I had luckily found our own compartment. But unlike every other year, we weren't joined by our various housemates. Quite the contrary, anyone that had yet passed by our compartment looked in and walked away without comment.

Which, all in all, I suppose could've been worse. I'd seen and heard the things Slytherins has said or done to other houses, and even participated in the torment a few times myself, so if there was one thing I knew well, it was how brutal my housemates could be.

Draco and I passed the time in a comfortable fashion, and all too soon it was time to change into our school robes.

"I'll be right back." I told Draco as I grabbed my bag and headed to the bathroom.

I had almost reached the bathrooms when I heard a voice. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Miss Alexis C--oh, wait, she's not a Conrad anymore, is she?" I turned to see Damien Somers leaning casually against a compartment door, follow by Theodore Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and---my stomach clenched unpleasantly--Blaise. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"Clever Somers, how long have you been staking out my compartment, waiting to use that one?" I asked scathingly.

"Careful, Lexi. Things aren't quite the same as they were last year. Or don't you remember?" Somers pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and walked towards me.

I didn't try to hide my smirk as I remembered my last run-in with Damien. Let's just say it ended with him getting a face full of my cat's claws.

"Vaguely. But obviously things have changed. I remember a time when the people who now look like your cronies looked down on you." I glanced disdainfully at the four boys behind Damien. "And here I thought they had standards."

Damien backed me against the wall, "Let's cut the shit, Conrad. Here's the deal. Without your families to back you, you and Malfoy aren't worth a damn anymore. The days of you and Draco throwing your weight around are over. You don't rule anymore."

I scoffed, "Fair enough. But you think that you're going to replace us? Damien, when it comes to Slytherin qualities, we both know that you've got less wit and ambition and more barbaric cruelty."

"No ambition, eh?" Damien smirked, "I've been ambitious enough to make you and Malfoy socially toxic." He paused and leaned in, "Just remember, I'm the only thing standing between you and the rest of the house. They'll be ready to tear you down the moment I give them the word."

I sneered back, "Then you'd better invest in a dictionary, Somers, because I know your vocabulary isn't that large." I tried not to let my nerves get to me as my back hit the wall.

Damien put an hand against the wall on either side of me. I hadn't realized until that moment how much taller than me he was. "Go ahead and make your little remarks, Lexi. The fact is, no one's going to be listening anymore. You're done." With that, he walked away, the others following. Blaise risked a small smile at me while the others had their backs turned.

I sighed and closed my eyes. Hopefully the ostracizing Damien promised wouldn't be as bad as he claimed.

I couldn't imagine my house following a dolt like Damien Somers.

At least, I hoped they wouldn't.

* * *

Unfortunately, they did.

I told Draco about what had happened. There wasn't much to say besides the fact that what we already knew was confirmed. What we didn't know though, was why Damien Somers had assumed control of the House. In all honestly, Damien was the worst choice for us. Had it been Blaise things would've been easy, Nott would've been bearable, but with our past with Damien, we figured this was anything but coincidental.

"_He _did it on purpose. The one Slytherin we've both had a problem with now assumes the proverbial reigns of the house? Fat chance." I said as we got off the train.

"It does seem to have worked out too well. And Merlin knows Somers couldn't have staged a hostile takeover himself."

As we got off the train and headed towards the carriages, we got our first taste of just how willing our housemate were to go along with Somer's plan. As we approached the carriages that Slytherins typically took up to the castle, door after door snapped shut.

"Mature." I drawled. They were literally shutting us out.

"We need a carriage, at any rate." Draco murmured, looking around for any empty carriages.

I sighed and looked around, finally spying one that didn't have it's door closed to the likes of us.

"Oh, Merlin." I took a peek in the carriage. "I'd rather walk."

"Lexi, we can't. Honestly, it can't be that…" Draco trailed off as he climbed into the carriage. "Bloody hell…"

"Hello Lexi, Draco." Luna Lovegood's dazed voice filled the carriage as I snapped the door shut.

It was hard to believe that Draco and I had gone from having our choice of any Slytherin carriage to sharing a ride with Lovegood and Longbottom in less than a year. I wasn't completely surprised, though.

Although Draco and I seemed to be social lepers, I knew that most of my housemates didn't like Somers anymore than they had liked us; in fact, I was willing to bet they liked him a lot less. But simply liking or disliking someone wasn't enough in my house. Connections were the most important---Draco and I had lost ours, and somehow Damien had gained some influence.

As far as the Slytherins were concerned, it was simple politics. Malfoy and Conrad were out; Somers was in.

* * *

The Sorting Feast was no less delicious this year than it had been in previous years, but the atmosphere was undoubtedly different.

Voldemort had been moving more openly now, and had been steadily gaining strength and momentum. Nobody talked about it outright, of course. We were at school, quite possibly the safest place at the moment from the darkness that had been spreading across the continent. However, the tension and nervous anxiety was present throughout the Great Hall.

Our table had shifted dramatically in dynamics, as well. Draco and I had become accustomed to our regular seats in the center of the table. However, those spaces were now occupied by Somers and his new quasi-regime. Draco and I had been shunned to the end of the table, where the first years sat.

"Ridiculous." I muttered again, "No one is even questioning it. When did Slytherins become so mindless?"

"Don't be daft, Lex. Of course they know something's up, but no one is going to stick up for us. Not when Somers is more powerful of an ally than we are." I opened my mouth to protest, but Draco continued, "Obviously either of us could outsmart him on his own, but he's got things on his side we can't compete with."

"The things we used to have on our side." I smiled bitterly.

"Exactly." Draco laughed mirthlessly. I'd never felt the sting of irony quite as sharply as I did at that moment. When I looked down the table, I didn't just see Somers sitting there, commanding respect, but I saw him doing it in much the same way that Draco and I had for the past six years.

The coup of Slytherin house had been silent and swift.

And, oh yes, it had been effective.

* * *

Okay! So that's the first chapter! Sorry it's so short, it's really more introduction than anything, just showing how different Hogwarts is going to be this year for Lexi and Draco.

George will obviously come into play later on, but since he isn't teaching at Hogwarts this year I'll have different ways. It'll mostly be through communication with Lexi, like the mirror or owls, unfortunately. Most of the first part of this fic will deal with Draco/Lexi vs. the other Slytherins, and also them coming to grips with the side they've chosen in the war and all of the unforeseen consequences.

As always, if you have any questions/comments, feel free to send me a review or PM about it. Please, please review and let me know what you think of this first chapter!! Thank you guys so much!!!


	2. 2: Challenges, Offers, Weapons

Hi everyone! I just wanted to say thank you for the amazing reviews, I'm really glad people seem to be liking the story thus far! Sorry this took a while to update but I had a lot of essays and finals for college and whatnot, but I'm on break now so hopefully I'll have more time to update!

And a lot of people have been asking about Lexi's powers and if I've forgotten them. I definitely haven't but there were other things Lexi was focusing on towards the end of the story, and if you'll recall the last time she really used them was in Dumbledore's office. Anyway, they'll be making a reappearance this chapter when Lexi finally decides to get help.

ALSO, I made more banners for this story, yay! Hah, I actually find that if I'm having writer's block or anything that if I make a banner it really helps. Anyway, there are some pretty interesting new ones, a few of them foreshadowing some major parts of the story later, so check them out and tell me what you think!

Thanks to the following reviewers!

LucyBlue, dancelikeyoujustdontcare, tonidepp16, spannieren, Lupin's Woman NO Touchy, Whisperwings, a small free kiss in the dark, Pixie555, Live2Sk8, justplaincrazy8, LunaPadma, xXxSour-LemonxXx, LilyJet, Heaven's Archer

**Chapter 2: Challenges, Offers, Weapons**

The next morning I woke up at my usual time. Peeking through my curtains, I saw that the other girls had either left already or hadn't woken up yet, which was lucky for me in that I wasn't looking forward to a confrontation. I quickly showered, threw on my uniform and robes and gathered my books before heading to the Common Room. There I found Draco waiting for me.

"Remember to watch your step today." Draco said grimly as we walked out of the Common Room.

"Did something happen?" I asked, he rolled his eyes in response.

"Just the usual shoulder checking. Never been on the receiving side of it though." He mused. I sighed and we entered the Great Hall. Once again nothing seemed amiss except for the fact that there were two seats available at the very end of the table, furthest from our peers.

Of course the Slytherins weren't stupid enough to do anything bolder right in the middle of the Great Hall, where Dumbledore or any of the professors could see, especially Snape. Snape may have turned a blind eye to us belittling the other Houses, but he expected complete respect towards our fellow Slytherins.

We always figured what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. And Draco and I had never thought it would work against us.

"Whatever, we're fine for the time being. We just have to be one step ahead of them, and if Somers is leading the pack it shouldn't be that hard." I muttered as we sat down. I looked quickly down the table and saw Blaise sitting next to Pansy, deep in conversation with Theodore Nott.

"What do you think the chances of changing the allegiances of our peers are?"

Draco sighed, "They're never going to turn their backs on their families, Lexi. If this were as simple as a classroom popularity contest, we'd have nothing to worry about, especially against Somers." He paused, "It still doesn't make sense. The Somers are pureblooded and respectable, surely, but not as much as Blaise, or Nott, or even Pansy."

I nodded, "Blaise is understandable though. His family has remained decidedly neutral. The Dark Lord can't afford to have him in charge… Theo seems like the best choice, it's unsettling that he was passed over in favor of Damien." I narrowed my eyes, "There's something we're missing."

We didn't have much time to dwell on our current situation, since our first class, Potions, was set to start in 5 minutes.

Draco and I sat together as we usually did and Snape began to lecture us on the importance of our 7th year studies and NEWTs. I glanced around the classroom, momentarily making eye contact with Potter before looking away.

For the first class of the year, Snape certainly wasn't going easy on us. We were to make the Draught of Living Death with no help other than the instructions the book provided. Snape definitely considered experience the best teacher.

The class worked in relative silence, as the potion was a complex one and distractions wouldn't do. We had nearly finished when Daphne Greengrass walked by our cauldron without saying a word. I glanced up quickly but Draco took no notice.

That is, until our cauldron bottom melted out a few moments later.

I gaped at the disaster before me. Snape swooped down on Draco and I, not quite sure what to do. Never, in all of my time at Hogwarts, had any Slytherin's potion been so obviously ruined.

"Miss Conrad, Mr. Malfoy… it would appear that you did not complete the instructions correctly." Snape said silkily.

I nearly growled in frustration. We had been completing the instructions perfectly well until Daphne had tampered with out potion.

Draco glanced at me and answered for the both of us, "Sorry sir, it won't happen again. Must've been a slip of the hand."

"It admittedly is unusual for either of you to make such an error…" Snape trailed off, "As such, I won't fail you if you write me a two foot long essay detailing the making of this potion and where you believe you went wrong."

He was being as favorable to us as he could without getting in trouble. He couldn't just excuse us from the assignment, but any other student would've failed.

"Thank you, sir." I tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace. As he walked away I turned a death glare on Daphne, who looked back at me smugly.

Draco and I looked at each other and I rolled my eyes. "Let's just clean up." He nodded and we swiftly vanished both the content of our potion and the now-ruined cauldron.

Class ended, but the morning continued in a similar fashion. In every lesson something went amiss, whether it be Draco's wand work or my bag splitting. By the time dinner came around I was tired of it.

"What are we going to do?" I asked Draco as we settled in the kitchens, having decided a private place to talk was needed.

"I don't know that we can do anything just yet. We need to wait, assess the situation, maybe talk to Blaise…" I cut him off.

"Draco, you can't expect me to just wait idly by while Daphne Greengrass, of all people, attempts to make my life hell. I won't stand for it."

"Lexi, you're being rash." Draco said sternly, "She's challenging you, trying to make you submit to her authority." He paused, "You used to do it all the time."

"Exactly! And the idea that she even thinks she comes close to me---" I stopped talking, frustrated.

Daphne Greengrass was, as much as I hated to admit it, very Slytherin in every aspect. She was quick-witted and clever, unlike Somers. Her family was well known for their wealth, looks, and Dark associations. Daphne was dangerous mix, with her long flowing blonde hair and pretty face masking her truly malicious nature.

It wasn't surprising to me that she had risen to Damien's side, and what made it even more frustrating was that unlike Damien, she was a force to be reckoned with. The Greengrasses were not a family to be trifled with. My mind quickly turned to the only possible smudge to their name--Daphne's younger sister Astoria. There was nothing really wrong with Astoria, she was a Slytherin after all; unlike her sister, however, she had short, mousey brown hair and hazel eyes. Astoria wasn't very outspoken, but due to her family name was treated with respect within her year, but never with the reverence that Draco and myself, and now Damien, Daphne and Theodore, received.

"We need to talk to Blaise." Draco decided.

I nodded, "From there we can decide the best course of action." Because no matter what Draco pretended, we would have to retaliate. The most dangerous thing we could do at this point would be to let our house gang up on us. No sign of weakness could be shown.

* * *

I walked swiftly through the Common Room, ignoring the whispers and glares I got from my housemates. However, one voice called out to me as I headed up to my dorm.

"Conrad!" Damien's voice reached my ears. I paused, but didn't turn around. "You might not want to go up there. Blaise and Pansy are…. Occupied." Even though I couldn't see him, I could almost hear the smirk that I knew would be on his face.

Pity he'd never be able to pull it off as well as Draco.

But still… Blaise and Pansy? I shook my head and headed up to the dorms anyway.

Pansy and I were overdue for a confrontation, anyway.

I opened the door and wasn't surprised to see Blaise and Pansy, fully clothed, her sitting on her bed and him laying on mine.

I scoffed and threw my bag onto my bed, barely registering Blaise's gasp as it hit him in the stomach.

"Hell, Lexi!"

"Nice to see you too." I said acidly, unsure of if any act needed to be kept up around Pansy.

She glanced at me, her expression unreadable. "I'm going to the bathroom. Afterwards, my boyfriend and I will go downstairs since we obviously can't have privacy." With that, she rose and headed to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Within a second, Blaise was in front of me, his hands gripping my arms. "Listen to me, Lexi."

"You're her boyfriend?" I interrupted.

"An act. She knows. She can't risk being seen, or even talking to you." Blaise explained quickly. "Lexi, listen. This-- everything, it's so much more than what we thought."

I look at his face. His normally clear eyes were clouded with worry. "What do you mean?"

"This is more than a half-baked attempt to annoy you and Draco. There's something more going on. No one knows how or why Damien's been put in charge. We all know something's up, but no one can say anything because for some reason he's got You-Know-Who backing him."

I shook my head, "I knew it. I knew it!" I paused, "But what's he promised the Dark Lord in order to get so much power?"

Blaise shrugged, "The only thing I've figured out is that in return for the prestige he has now, he had to agree to carry out a mission. Two missions, in fact. And if he doesn't complete them by Christmas, he'll be killed."

"What? What does he have to do?" Blaise shook his head.

"He's only dropped hints. _He _wants Hogwarts, that's one of them. Damien's supposed to figure out a way for them to get in." Blaise paused, "The other one he won't mention as much… it's got to do with you though. You and Draco."

"What? What's he got to do with us?" I asked, my voice eerily calm.

"I don't know. He's so vague about it---too vague. I'm not sure that he trusts me. But that's why I'm telling you to be careful, Lexi. Any plan concocted by the Dark Lord isn't one you want to be associated with. Stay on your toes. Tell Draco the same."

"I will. Thank you, Blaise. You be careful too." I put my arms around him. "I miss you."

He kissed me forehead before stepping abruptly away from me, "Miss you too. Now go sit, act like this never happened." I nodded and sat on my bed, pulling out my homework. Pansy came out of the bathroom soon after, a sneer on her face.

"Well, Blaise, since some people have no sense of consideration, I guess we'll have to find somewhere else to spend time together." She laced her fingers with him as they headed to the door, Blaise's facial expression completely indifferent.

"My apologies." I snarled. I could've sworn I saw her lips twitch before a scowl took it's place.

"Whatever, blood-traitor!" She said loudly as she opened the door, ensuring everyone in the Common Room had head.

I sighed as the door slammed behind them and laid back on my pillow.

In this house, appearances were everything.

* * *

It was about a week later and things had died down a little bit. Draco and I continued to be ignored by our housemates, but it seemed that only a few of them took it upon themselves to actually harass us.

For me, it was mostly Daphne making snide remarks or trying to sabotage my schoolwork. In return, I usually glared at her. No matter what anyone said, no girl in Slytherin could give a glare the way I could.

It was a Thursday night and I had just finished with my last lesson of the day. I was heading to the dungeons to drop my books off before heading to dinner when an arm reached out and grabbed me.

"What the bloody hell?!" I exclaimed as I was shoved unceremoniously into an empty classroom.

"Now, now, that language isn't very lady-like." Damien taunted from the doorway.

"What do you _want_, Somers?" I wasn't in the mood. Not only had Daphne tripped me on my way to Transfiguration, but I had woken up this morning only to find all of my toiletries scattered throughout the room. I'd have to start locking my things up.

"To talk." I raised an eyebrow and he held his hands up in surrender. "Honestly."

"Talk about what? Your petty schemes and lackluster attempts to get to us?" I scoffed, "There's not much to talk about there."

"Actually, Conrad, that is what I wanted to talk about." Damien paused, "It doesn't have to be like this, you know."

"You're determined to ostracize Draco and I. I'd have to say the balls in your court on that one." I rolled my eyes.

"Just come back, Lexi." Damien moved towards me, "Come back to where you belong and everything will be the way it was before."

"Before what? Before my mother threatened and hit me, or before Draco was attacked by _his _followers?" I snarled.

"Draco made his choice. You're making yours based off of his. Isn't that just as bad as those who follow the Dark Lord blindly?" Damien mocked.

"You mean those like _you_?" I laughed, "Hardly. Draco is my best friend. You don't have friends when you're in the Dark Lord's service. Only people who wait for the first sign of weakness and use it against you for their own gain."

"And you'd be one of the best Lexi. Don't try to deny it. You're everything a Slytherin could be and more. Smarter than me, and look how easy it was for me to control the rest of the house. You could be by my side, you know. I'd drop Daphne for you in a second."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "What are you playing at, Damien?"

"I'm trying to show you how wasted your talents would be anywhere else. You were made to be on our side."

"Why? Because I'm clever and ambitious? Slytherin isn't synonymous with _Death Eater_, Damien. Even your vocabulary should be good enough to figure that out. Besides, I think my _talents _would be better used somewhere that I have my own free will, thanks." I snapped.

"It won't be getting any better. I'm just trying to give you the choice. You'd still be welcomed back, you know. Even by your parents." Damien put his hand on my shoulder, "They're your family, Lexi. Don't tell me you don't miss them." He pushed me against the wall and leaned in closer to me.

"Stop!" I said immediately. What surprised me was when he actually did.

"Merlin." I'd forgotten about that. Unlike last time this had happened, I felt myself getting tired with each passing second. Something was wrong. I needed to get out of here and go to---I hated to say it---Dumbledore.

"G-Go." I said quietly and Damien suddenly reanimated. I took a shaky breath and acted as though nothing had happened. It wouldn't do for this to get back to anyone Damien may be talking to.

"With open arms? The Dark Lord isn't that forgiving, and neither are my parents. Don't pretend to understand the intricacies of my life, Somers." I spat and headed towards the door. "If that's all you had to say to me, then I think we're done here."

"Of course." Damien's voice turned cold, "But don't say I didn't try."

I turned and fixed him with my fiercest glare before storming out of the classroom.

They wanted me back. An interesting development.

But now, to see Dumbledore.

* * *

I explained the entire situation to Dumbledore, including what had happened last year as well as this year, and the research I had tried to do. He sat very still for a moment, before sighing.

"Although it was very astute to do research on your own, I do not believe you are a 'reality bender' as it were, simply because powerful though they may be, they cannot manipulate a living being, which you seem to be able to do."

"But, Professor, then what's wrong wi--" I stopped as he held up a hand, deep in thought.

"Your powers, as far as I can tell, are not something natural." He paused, "If I may ask to see them in action?"

I nodded and took the inkpot off of his desk before throwing it carelessly in the air, and stopping it.

"Hmmm, interesting." He stood quickly and went to his bookshelf, "It would seem… but, no, far too dangerous… unless…" He thumbed through the pages til he apparently found what he was looking for. He skimmed the page quickly before looking up, the normal twinkle gone from his eyes.

"It would appear, Miss Conrad, that you are a victim of a curse."

"A curse? What kind of curse would give me power like this? How can that be a bad thing?"

"A curse that's been placed on you, most likely soon after your birth. By your parents." Dumbledore sighed and sat down, "It's very old, very dark magic. Magic from a time where every gain was evened out by a loss. The curse itself is so very old it was thought to be lost, but apparently your parents found it."

"But--But why? Why would they curse me?"

"The curse itself gives the victim awesome power and control of their magic. So much so that they are able to do feats outside the realm of the normal witch of wizard, much like you are able to. This power, however, comes at a hefty price." Dumbledore glanced down, "With each use, a bit more of your life is drained away. Of course, small things like what you've done up til now will have no truly horrific repercussions, but I must stress the importance that if you were to use your power in a grand way, the price would be just as severe."

"It could kill me, then." I whispered. "I still don't see why…"

"Miss Conrad, during the first war it was not… uncommon… for supporters of Voldemort to offer up their children to his service." Dumbledore paused, "That can be the only reason I can think of why your parents would be willing to trade…" He drifted off.

"Trade my life for a little bit of power." I shook my head, "You can say it. They'd rather me help them win the war then care if I'm killing myself in the process."

"You would be quite an asset to the Dark Lord." I was barely listening.

"They cursed me. Their own daughter. All to make a weapon for their stupid Dark Lord." I said, more to myself than anyone. But Dumbledore heard.

"Yes. They never counted on you having a mind of your own." I locked eyes with him for a moment before standing.

"Thank you, Dumbledore. I'll be careful not to.. Endanger myself anymore." I went to leave but he called my name.

"Miss Conrad." He paused, "You must be very careful. Voldemort, if he knows of your power, will stop at nothing to get you to return to your parent's. And your parents would want the glory your help would bring them. Older witches than you have gotten caught in Voldemort's web." I nodded and left.

Inside, I was fuming. I felt a sharp sting of betrayal. No matter what fights I had gotten into with my parents as of late, I had always held the thought that they loved me as their daughter, no matter what. But now I was to believe that they were willing to sacrifice my happiness, my health---my life, dammit--- all for a little bit of power.

An asset. That's what Dumbledore had said. That's all I was to them. An asset. Damien's words from earlier buzzed around in my head.

They'd welcome me with open arms, he had said. I snorted. No wonder.

I scowled as I made my way down to the Common Room.

It was time for another chat with Damien Somers.

* * *

I marched into the Common Room. It was full of students, some doing their homework, others sitting around the fire, where Damien, Daphne, Theo, Blaise, and Pansy had congregated. Draco, I saw, was sitting in the corner, watching them inconspicuously.

I glanced around and saw all of the bystanders. All the better.

"Somers!" I all but growled. Heads snapped over to me, including Blaise who stared wide-eyed at me as I made my way over.

"Lexi." Damien stood up, smiling at me, "Have you reconsidered my offer? It still stands." He looked over his shoulder and laughed with Theo as I approached.

"Yeah, I've thought about it. If you want, I have a message you can deliver to my parents." I said, looking into his eyes. He smirked.

"Certainly. I'm sure they'd be happy to hear fro---"

The cracking sound my hand made when it connected with his face echoed throughout the room, and was oddly satisfying to my ears.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I was raised to be more than a mindless follower, Damien. I was raised better than you." I sneered, "Tell my parents they don't have to worry about renouncing me as their daughter, because I'm officially disowning _them_."

A collective gasp was heard throughout the room. Not since Sirius Black had anyone dared renounce their family's name.

"Conrad, you wouldn't dare!" Damien's voice shook.

"I would and I have. They should've known better than to assume one talk with a tosser like you would make me see the 'error' of my ways." I rolled my eyes.

"The Dark Lord--" Damien began viciously, but I cut him off.

"You tell your bloody Dark Lord that I won't be a pawn in his stupid little games. I won't let myself be used and I'd rather die than become one of his mindless drones." I hissed. Damien drew himself up to his full height and glared down at me.

"You're digging your own grave." He said icily.

I scoffed, "I'm not afraid of you."

"You'll be eating your words before Christmas, Conrad."

"Let's see you try, Somers." I turned on my heel and went up to my dormitory.

I was angry beyond all belief, but only one thing stuck out in my mind.

I'd never forgive my parents, and I would certainly never join their cause.

And if that meant battling it out with my fellow Slytherins, so be it.

* * *

Okayyy! Yay chapter two done! I hope you all enjoyed it!!! Anyway, please please review and let me know what you think!


	3. 3: Back to Basics

Hi all! I'm so, so sorry that this took so long, but I've been absolutely swamped with work and honestly had the worst case of writer's block EVER. Anyway, thank you all so much for the reviews and enthusiasm about this fic, it's really so encouraging and it means so much to me! I'm sorry I haven't had time to reply to reviews but I promise to try harder this time around!!

**Chapter 3: Back to Basics**

I woke up the next morning and peered through the hangings around my bed. Everyone else was gone, except for Pansy. I sucked in a breath and got out of bed, heading to my trunk and muttering the various countercharms to the locking spells I'd put on them the night before. Pansy peered at me over the book she was reading.

"Daphne was very angry that she couldn't get into your things this morning." She said simply. I shrugged.

"Daphne ought to take a page out of my book or else she'll find worse things will happen to her things then having them strewn around the room." I retorted. Pansy smirked.

"It's about time you start acting like a Slytherin again." She said. I turned to her after pulling my uniform on.

"What do you mean?"

"They think you've gone soft, you know." She said, staring down at her book. "They're trying to break you. They think you won't fight back because you've become complacent and don't know how to anymore, or won't because you're weak."

My blood boiled, "What makes them think I'm weak?"

Pansy laughed, her eyes snapping up to me, "The old Lexi Conrad wouldn't have marched into the Common Room last night, wand drawn, and openly denounced the Dark Lord. The old Lexi would've plotted, and waited, and snuck around to get her revenge and to make her point known without ever allowing her name to be officially traced back to it. You've become far too rash Lexi, and it's going to get you in trouble." She stood and brushed her robes off.

I stood there, my mouth open. Was Pansy right? Certainly, I'd changed a lot over the past year, but had I become reckless?

Judging from my actions last night, the answer seemed to be yes.

"I don't know what you're planning to do, Lexi, but you know as well as I do that using a barbaric Gryffindor approach won't help at all." She paused, "Just think about it." She left the room.

I thought back to my previous years at Hogwarts--- all of the pranks I'd played on the other houses, few of which had ever been pinned on me. I thought of all the snide remarks I'd given to my classmates, the fights with Granger, everything. Then I thought of my 6th year, and how after Draco had been attacked all of that had seemed to go out the window. Understandable, of course, but it was obvious now that everyone had thought I'd lost my touch.

I scowled and swung my bag over my shoulders. I'd show them.

* * *

It was time to fight back.

"This isn't some silly prank war with the Gryffindors, Lexi. We're essentially fighting against ourselves. We can't go in, guns blazing like the Golden Trio would." Draco reminded me as he glanced through his Charms essay.

"Who ever said we were going to act like Gryffindors?" I scrunched my nose in distaste. "I think it's time we remind everyone why we were sorted into Slytherin in the first place."

Draco smirked, "Good to have you back. What did you have in mind?"

I grinned. For as long as anyone could remember, Slytherin house had been virtually untouchable by the other houses. We couldn't be goaded, tricked, or angered into a fight, and it was difficult to prove our involvement in any mischief. This was obviously because only a Slytherin knew how to hack off their housemates, and never before had anyone in the house had a reason to _want _to do so. Until now.

"Simple, Draco. We're going to _persuade _all the members of our house who have taken it upon themselves to punish me for my outburst that it would be in their best interest to leave us bloody well enough alone." Draco nodded.

"And how do you propose we do that?"

I shrugged, "I would say we'd have to.. What was it again? Oh yes, _use any means to achieve our ends_."

We smirked at each other. Slytherin house had no idea what it was in for.

* * *

First things first. In order to effectively manipulate the Slytherin population, we had to know who exactly this population consisted of. Of course, Draco and I would know all of the Slytherins by sight, and most of them by name, but only a handful of them could we claim to know personally.

Luckily, I knew of someone who probably had enough information on the Slytherin house to make my job of persuasion quite easy. The only trouble was finding it.

I drummed my fingers against the desk as I tuned out Professor Flitwick. Pansy wasn't the brightest girl in school, but she wasn't completely without sense either. I could tear our room to pieces, looking for her hiding place, but that would be highly inconvenient as well as obvious.

No, I'd have to find Pansy's secret stash of Slytherin secrets in a much more subtle way. Thank Salazar subtlety was a Slytherin trait. I shook my head as the bell rang.

I hurried towards the greenhouses, not wanting to be late for Herbology. The last thing I needed was for Professor Sprout to give me a detention.

The lesson sped by since it was mostly reviewing the potting properties of the Venomous Tentacula.

I walked slowly back up to the castle. I was about to enter when my bag split.

"Bugger." I swore under my breath and bent down to pick up my books. I gathered most of them in my arms before finding I couldn't grab the quills I'd dropped also. "Piss!" I swore again as I reached for the quills and my books flew out of my arms. Before I could react, another pair of hands had scooped up my books and piled them with ease. I looked up at Theodore Nott, surprised.

"Here you go." He handed me my books before repairing my bag and holding it open. I looked at him suspiciously before stuffing my books into my bag and taking it from him. I didn't make a move to enter the castle, and neither did he.

"Not even going to say thank-you, Lexi?" He cocked an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes in response. "I guess I don't blame you for being on your guard, but really Lexi, you've got to have a little more faith. We've been housemates for over 6 years."

"And suddenly you turn your back on me and start yapping around Somers like a puppy dog." I scowled and made to walk by him. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back slightly so that I could see his face.

"I don't make the rules Lexi, I just follow them." His hand slid down into mine and he squeezed it for a moment before I yanked it away. "And don't scowl, it's unbecoming." I glared at him before stalking back into the castle, trying to ignore the tightening in my throat.

* * *

"Conrad! Conrad!" I stopped walking and glanced behind me, my eyes widening in shock and embarrassment as Potter ran towards me. I looked around, wishing the ground would swallow me up whole.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" I hissed, "Do you have any clue what would happen in people saw us together?"

Potter shrugged, "Thought your houses' image of you was in shambles anyway, you can't get much more unpopular with them can you?"

"Quite the contrary, being a blood-traitor is one thing, but being a goody-goody Potter-lover is another entirely." I rolled my eyes, "Let's put it this way: being a blood-traitor and renouncing my family was social suicide. Being seen casually chatting with the Boy-Who-Lived is literal suicide."

Potter looked thoughtful for a moment, "Slytherin is really that regulated?" I nodded.

"Please Potter. We aren't like those pansy Hufflepuffs, or you brash Gryffindors. We maintain order. Ruled with a tight fist, you know?"

"Except now you're the one being squashed by it, right?" He nudged my arm in what he must've thought was a friendly manner. I shook my head and made a growling sound in the back of my throat.

"Get to the point, Potter."

"We can help you… you know. If you want." He suddenly seemed shy.

I cocked my head to the side, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you know, even if we didn't give you and Draco such a hard time. I could ask the rest of the Gryffindors not to…" I laughed.

"Now you're the one acting like the benevolent dictator, eh Potter?" I shook my head, "As much as I appreciate your intentions, this is a Slytherin problem, and we aren't the types to air our dirty laundry for the rest of the school to see. Draco and I have to handle this ourselves, and quietly."

Potter nodded. "I get it. Err, well. If you need anything…"

"If I am in dire need of assistance, I may consider contacting you." I supplied helpfully. Potter grinned.

"Act whatever way you want, Conrad, I still don't think you're that bad."

I smirked at him, "Just wait, Potter."

* * *

"I've missed you." I smiled at George, who was beaming at me through the mirror he'd given me.

"I miss you too, this is hardly an adequate substitute but it'll have to do." I sighed, making sure the silencing and sticking charms on my bed hangings were still in place.

"Have they been giving you a hard time?" George asked suddenly, noticing my distraction.

"No more than usual. And I've been giving as good as I get. It's been mostly Damien and Daphne, trying to bother me. But since I hit him it's been worse, with some of the other upperclassmen trying to get in on it, but Draco and I usually take care of them."

"What are you going to do?" I shrugged. My plan hadn't really been laid out yet. I wanted to expose the weaknesses of my housemates in the worst way, particularly Damien, Daphne, and Theo.

"Well, if you want the opinion of someone who is rather an expert at making Slytherins miserable…" George trailed off. I nodded for him to continue, "At least until you can figure out a way to find what really makes them tick, a common thing I've seen with all Slytherins is that you guys cling to your image and your rules. Take those away and they won't have anything."

I thought for a moment. Daphne was known for her looks, her wit, and her snake-like maliciousness. Damien, on the other hand, was really only known for his recent power and respect. Theo was quiet, but brilliant. They were all well respected and feared. If I could take away that fear and respect, they would have less than Draco and I. Although I was fairly certain my house hated me at the moment, I was certain they still respected me.

I grinned and kissed the mirror, "I knew there was a reason you were my favorite Gryffindor."

"Other than the fact that I'm ridiculously easy on the eyes, you mean?" He teased. I smiled, but my heart ached. I really, truly missed him.

"I maintain that Fred's the handsome twin." I responded. He looked offended.

"Fred?! Have you seen him? Tragic, really, but I guess I took all the attractive genes and he got what was left."

I rolled me eyes. "Hogsmeade weekend next week. D'you think you could manage to swing by?"

George's smile widened, "Of course, if you want."

I laughed, "Of course, I asked, didn't I?"

George nodded, "It's actually good timing because I'll be leaving after that."

"Leaving?" I didn't need to ask why or where, because I knew. An undetermined location, for the Order. "Do you know.. How long you'll be gone?"

George shook his head, a frown tugging at his lips. "No, but I can't imagine it'll be too long, and I don't want you to worry about it Lexi."

"I suppose it would be useless to tell you that I'll worry about you, regardless?" I tried. He smiled.

"Flattering, to be sure, but I'd rather you focus on your own problems. You seem to have enough to deal with. I'm a big boy." I nodded. George might not have seemed like it, but he was a capable wizard.

"I know. Just make sure you come back, all right?" I made him promise.

"It's late, and I promised Fred I'd open the shop tomorrow, so we'll figure out the details for Hogsmeade later." George told me. "Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight, George."

I put the mirror under my pillow and began to plan. How could I manage to destroy the reputations of three of the most prominent Slytherins in our house? First I'd need information.

* * *

"And where do you suppose Pansy's hidden her little treasure trove of secrets?" Draco asked me that night at dinner. We didn't have to worry about being overheard: at this point, even the first-years were smart enough to give us a wide berth.

"I don't know.." I took a sip of pumpkin juice. "I can't imagine her simply stashing it away in hopes of no one ever looking for it. It's got to be hidden magically."

"Then it'll have a trace, wherever it is." Draco said, as though this solved our problem easily enough.

I laughed, "Have you forgotten we're in a magical school, Draco? There's bloody magical traces everywhere."

"So we'll just have to look for her specific signature." Draco replied, "Honestly, how hard can it be?"

* * *

"This is so bloody time-consuming!" Draco whined.

"Oh, really Draco? Because I'd thought locating a magically hidden list full of potentially blackmail-worthy information was going to be a walk in the park!" I replied angrily, tossing another of Pansy's magically tampered with items to the side.

It had taken Draco and an entire afternoon of searching for the right spell to show a magical trace, and then we'd had to wait for Pansy to charm something so we'd have sample of her magical signature to use with the spell. It was Saturday afternoon, and instead of enjoying it outside as the rest of our peers were doing, Draco and I had decided to search for the information we needed.

The spell would have actually been fairly effective under normal circumstances. By giving it Pansy's signature to go off of, it had actually produced a glow about the objects or areas of the room Pansy had used magic on.

The complicating factor was that Pansy, being a Pureblooded witch, was excessively dependent on magic and therefore most of her belongings had that glow around them.

Which ended with Draco and myself going through the items and areas one by one.

"You're a little irritable today, Lex." Draco commented, tapping Pansy's hairbrush with his wand. After being sure it wasn't concealing anything, the glow faded and he put it back.

"Well this entire thing is a bloody nuisance. I'm not used to doing my own dirty work." I quickly grabbed her charm bracelet off her desk and began looking it over, a grin appearing on my face as it began to shake. "Draco!"

"What? Have you got it?"

"Not sure, but this bracelet has definitely been the subject of a Transfiguration spell." I thought for a moment and muttered a counter-curse. Draco's eyes met mine and we both smirked at the manila folder now in my hand.

Perfect.

* * *

"Start with the younger years and make our way up? Or start with the older years and work our way down?"

I shrugged, "Might as well kill two birds with one stone. We get the older students, the younger ones will follow without much trouble."

Draco nodded and snatched the folder out of my hand and skimmed through it as I continued speaking, "Obviously excluding Somers, Greengrass, or Theo…"

Draco smirked "Not _every _Greengrass." He handed me a leaf of paper. I read over it, my eyes widening.

"But then it's not so strange, when you think about it. Younger, overshadowed sibling." I commented. "And think of how it'll piss Daphne off."

"Astoria's really the only person who wants to tear Daphne down as much as you do." Draco mused.

"And I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help us since she'll be getting something out of it."

"You'll talk to her, then?" Draco asked

"Me? Why me?"

Draco scoffed, "Lexi, have you seen Astoria lately? The girl's taken rebellious sibling to a whole new level."

"Please, Draco. She can't be that bad." I rolled my eyes. Draco shrugged.

"Your funeral."

* * *

"Astoria." I said down on the bench next to her in the courtyard. "Mind if I have a word?"

"A word? Funny, when have you ever wanted a word with me before?" She closed her eyes and leaned against the stone wall. "Really Lexi, aren't your standards too high to be seen with the likes of me?" I mentally winced. Astoria was going to be more difficult than I had expected.

I wasn't quite sure when Astoria had changed so much, but the reserved albeit polite girl I remembered was gone. In her place was an angry looking brunette with too much eyeliner on, her hair thrown back in a messy bun, a far cry from her older sister's perfectly tamed locks.

"You're a year younger than me, Astoria. It's not odd that our circles didn't mix."

"Your circle? More like your little pentagon of perfection." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what do you want?"

I fought against the retort that was dying to come out of my mouth and instead said, "As much as you may dislike me, Astoria, we both know you hate your sister a lot more."

Astoria glanced at me for a moment before responding, "Your point?"

"My point is that you hate your sister, I hate your sister, and right now your sister has got the entire Slytherin house eating out of her hands."

"And what makes you think I care for an instant about something as trivial as schoolyard popularity contests?" Astoria interrupted me, "I thought even you were above that, Lexi."

"It's not just that, and you know it. And I know you care because it's Daphne, perfect Daphne. Doesn't it bother you that you're always being compared to her, Astoria? Always second best?"

I could almost see her thoughts buzzing around in her head, before she clenched her jaw tightly then said, "Give it up, Lexi. We can't do anything anyway."

"We're Slytherins, Astoria. Give yourself a little more credit."

"Normally, I'd agree, but you're forgetting Lexi, they're Slytherins too. And no matter how cunning or ambitious you think we may be, we're no match for an entire house full of resources that they've got." Astoria stood, "It's not that I don't agree with you, that Somers is a twat and things were much more fun when you and Draco were in charge, but it's not up for debate."

"Astoria." I said, causing her to pause, "You single-handedly sabotaged Daphne's chances at being Head Girl, and never got caught. Don't say we can't do anything."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Astoria said calmly, though she did make her way back over to where I was sitting. I raised an eyebrow. "Okay," she admitted, "I do know what you're talking about, but it doesn't change anything. Ruining my sickeningly perfect sister's chances at Head Girl is one thing, attempting to dethrone her is another."

I sighed and stood, noting that Astoria was about an inch taller than me. "If you change your mind…"

"You'll know." She sent me a small smirk and walked away.

I sighed and buried my face in my hands as Draco strode out from behind the bushes.

"That went well." He observed. I smacked him on the arm.

"Idiot."

* * *

It was time to put our plan into action. That morning, I woke early and thumbed through the pages in Pansy's folder, selecting a few of the upperclassmen's profiles before stuffing them in my bag and heading out the door. Pausing at the doorway, I turned back, sending a charm towards Daphne's bed before slipping out.

I took my seat next to Draco and snatched a piece of toast off his plate.

"Hey!" He protested as I took a sip of his orange juice.

"Good morning to you too, darling." I grinned, and Draco narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" He asked. I shrugged and opened my mouth to answer when the doors to the Great Hall burst open. A sea of faces turned to see who caused the noise, and immediately the hall was filled with laughter.

Daphne Greengrass made her way to our table, somehow holding her head high, despite the fact that her hair currently rivaled Medusa's. Draco nudged me, but I kepy my eyes on her.

Her eyes quickly found mine and a scowl marred her face. I smiled back.

"And so it begins." Draco muttered under his breath.

* * *

Hey! So, sorry if this ending seems a little abrupt, but, I had to stop here or it would be like another 10 pages and I didn't want to make you all wait any longer! Anyway, thanks again for being so patient!! And please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!


	4. 4: Plans, Hogsmeade, and Howlers

Hi everyone! So the only thing I have to say is that the characters introduced in this chapter as members of the Slytherin house, I have tried my very best to use actual cannon characters. The Carrow twins are in the 6th HP film as members of the Slug Club, and apparently bear no relation to the horrible Death Eater Carrows.

As always, thank you for the awesome reviews! They are always so encouraging!

**Chapter 4: Plans, Hogsmeade, and Howlers**

"You bitch." I turned around as Daphne stalked towards me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked calmly, trying to keep from laughing.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Who do you think you are, doing this to me?" She snarled, her face uncomfortably close to mine.

"You'll have a hard time proving it, Greengrass." I spat back, "You can hardly think I'm the only one in this school who would want you to be made into a laughingstock."

"You're going to be sorry, Conrad." Daphne pulled out her wand

"I'm absolutely shaking." I rolled my eyes but readied my wand as well. Daphne raised her wand when Theo appeared out of nowhere, his hand wrapping around her wrist and lowering her arm.

"Daph." He said warningly, "This is neither the time nor place." He added quietly

Daphne very nearly growled before stuffing her wand back in her pocket. "Later, then." She stormed off, presumably to fix her hair. Theo and I stared at each other for a moment.

"Isn't this the part where you scowl and threaten me?" I asked after a moment's silence. Theo chuckled and shook his head, before sticking his hands in his pockets and walking away, smiling.

How very strange.

I shook my head and continued on my way. I had things to do.. More specifically, people to talk to.

Tracey Davis, for example. Tracey was a quiet girl whom I'd only spoken a few words to, despite the fact that she was in my year. Tracey, I recalled vaguely, was good in Charms but not much else. However, what she lacked in natural skill, she made up for in ambition, earning her place in Slytherin.

"Davis!" I called to her. She turned quickly, her eyes widening as she glanced around, making sure no one was there.

"Lexi, hi." She said, nodding to me. I motioned out to the courtyard and she nodded. "Did you … need something?" She asked as we sat down.

"Just wanted to chat, really." I smiled. "How've you been?"

"All right, you know. Obviously it's a bit different this year." She nodded towards me.

"Clearly." I paused, "And what do you think of the… changes?"

"It doesn't really affect me, you know. But all the same… things are much more tense within the house now." She paused, "I'm not stupid, Lexi. I know what you're going to ask. And I can't do it."

"Davis, I'm not asking you to curse them into oblivion or anything. Just don't _listen _to them."

"Lexi, you don't get it." She sighed, "You know I'm a half-blood. I can't afford to do anything risky, to them I barely belong in Slytherin as it is. I just want to stay in the shadows, y'know?"

Of course I knew Tracey Davis was a half-blood. She and Millicent both were, and that was probably why they were often seen in each other's company. I'd never given them a hard time about it, and of course no one else had risked Snape's fury in order to bother them about it, but it definitely didn't boost their reputation within the house.

"Listen… I won't get in your way, Lexi, but that's the most I can promise. I know people are harassing you and Draco, and while I can't defend you, I won't join in, and I won't do anything to make it worse." She promised.

"And if it comes down to you having to choose?"

She sighed, "You're more likely to help me out in a pinch than Greengrass is, so I guess it'd be you."

I nodded. It wasn't much, but it would have to be enough for now.

* * *

Draco and I had both, throughout the day, cornered those within our house that we thought we could trust to be discreet. Almost every answer was the same: no Slytherin was willing to risk their neck.

"Typical Slytherins." I muttered at dinner.

"You can hardly blame them." Draco commented, "We'd have done the same thing."

"I hate it when you're right." I rolled my eyes.

"On the bright side, we did manage to convince a few people." Draco shrugged.

"You managed to convince a few of your Quidditch buddies, you mean." I sighed, but was pleased. Both Edward Harper, a sixth year, and Graham Pritchard, a fifth year, had agreed to stand by us if we needed them to. The Carrow twins, Hestia and Flora, were also quick to bash Damien as a leader.

"Eh, they're good kids."

"Harper idolizes you." Harper had been the reserve seeker, but refused to play permanently in Draco's place.

"And Pritchard's got quite the little crush on you, Lexi." Draco smirked as I rolled my eyes, "If only he knew…"

"So we're meeting in the Room of Requirement tonight, right?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Right." Draco nudged me, "And don't think I forgot about Pritchard. That'll be something to tell your ginger the next time I see him!"

I opened my mouth to retort when we were interrupted. "Ginger? Interesting. I didn't think Lexi would be into that."

"Not that it's any of your business, Nott." Draco snapped back, instantly protective.

"Defensive. Jealous, maybe? Looks like Draco doesn't want to share." Theo was speaking to Draco, but his eyes never left mine.

"Talk about her like that again, Nott, I dare you." Draco growled, standing.

"From what I've heard just now, she isn't yours to defend, Malfoy." Theo retorted. I cut in.

"Don't talk about me like I'm a piece of property, Nott." I warned. He shot me a smirk.

"Of course. My apologies." He continued down the table and took his seat next to Damien.

"Why is he so _weird_?!" I exclaimed. Draco eyed him darkly but made no response.

* * *

"This isn't a horrible turnout." I finally agreed as I looked before me. The Carrow sisters, Pritchard, Harper, and Millicent Bulstrode sat awkwardly around the Room of Requirement. I shrugged at Draco.

"Could've been a lot worse." He said. The door opened and I fought a smile off as Blaise strode in. Flora and Harper exchanged nervous glances but I put their fears to rest.

"Don't worry, Blaise is with us." I glanced around, "Well, I guess you all know why you're here…"

"Do you really think we can do anything?" Harper asked.

"Merlin, are all Slytherins this pessimistic? We're the most ambitious and cunning house in the bloody school. The question should be what _can't _we do!" Draco exclaimed. Flora and Hestia nodded in agreement, but Millicent looked hesitant.

"But they're Slytherins too. If we were planning to take down anyone else, I'd say no problem, but... there aren't very many of us." She shrugged.

I spoke up. "A few talented witches and wizards is worth more than a hundred mediocre ones. I think it'll be easier for us to work with a smaller group."

"What kind of work? The usual taunts and jinxes?" Flora asked.

Pritchard chuckled, "You do take an exceptional amount of pleasure in tripping Hufflepuffs while they're on their way to the greenhouses." Flora smirked.

"That, but it's got to be more geared toward making them lose respect of our housemates. If we take away their immaculate images, we take away their power." I repeated George's advice. Blaise cut in.

"But be careful. Bulstrode is right, we aren't dealing with pansy Hufflepuffs or rash Gryffindors. You aren't dealing with the less intelligent members of our house, either. Each of them is a threat in their own right." He leaned back in his chair.

"He makes a good point. Damien might be a bit on the dull side, but he's got a lot of ambition, and right now he's got a huge amount of outside resources at his disposal." Draco pointed out.

"Yes, yes, Damien's clearly their ringleader. So why don't we take the other two out first, then go for the big fish?" Pritchard asked.

"I wouldn't count out the other two. The reason Damien is making such an effective leader is because he surrounded himself with some of the best Slytherin has to offer. In a way, Theo and Daphne may be more dangerous than Damien." I warned them.

"But Theo is so quiet!" Hestia interrupted, "And he's never been anything but polite to me."

"And Daphne seems like such an airhead." Millicent piped in unkindly.

"Nott is much more of threat than you're giving him credit for. He's brilliant, a bloody genius. Add in a bit of ambition and he's not someone you'd want to mess with." Blaise's tone was completely serious.

I believed it. As passive as Theodore Nott seemed, he was quite possibly the most intelligent person I'd ever met. Not only that, but he had never felt the need to cosy up to Draco in the past; Theo had always been more of a loner. Which made his joining forces with Damien all the more confusing, and concerning as well.

"And Daphne is smart enough." A voice said from the doorway. My eyes met with Astoria's and I noted the intense anger they held when she spoke of her sister. "But she's as crazy as they come, and that's where you've got to watch out for her."

"So we've established that they're all threatening enough on their own, but together they make an almost unstoppable trio." Harper summed up.

"Emphasis on almost." Blaise reminded him.

"But where do we start? Do we work on them one by one, or go after them all at once? Who do we start with?" Flora wondered

"I think if we get Damien out of his position of power, everything else will fall apart itself. Cut of the head of the monster, if you will." Draco suggested.

"Makes sense, I guess. When you were gone last year…" Harper trailed off, looking uncomfortable. It was a valid point though; after Draco had been incapacitated last year, Blaise and I could no longer hold the house together with the finesse we had for years.

"And from there hopefully Daphne and Theo will lose interest?" Hestia's tone was hopeful, but not very believing.

"Daph won't stop until she _is_ stopped. She's determined and she has no scruples about anything." Astoria rolled her eyes, "Trust me, I would know."

I glanced from Blaise to Draco and nodded. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we focus on taking Damien out."

"Taking him _out_?" Millicent raised an eyebrow.

Blaise sighed, "Look. I've been hanging around Damien. I know, at least a bit, what he's up to. He's trying to get the castle under the Dark Lord's control."

The younger Slytherins looked shocked at that admission.

"So, by take out you mean…" Hestia trailed off.

"I'm not saying we should permanently disable him or-- or anything!" I said quickly, my mind going back to my fight with Lucius at Malfoy Manor. _Never again_, I vowed to myself.

"Getting him out of the school would remove the threat easily enough." Draco drawled, "And really, it shouldn't be that hard, between all of us, to frame him for something and get him expelled."

"Proving he works for You-Know-Who would lead to automatic expulsion, wouldn't it?" Harper asked.

"So let's prove it." I said with finality.

After a game plan was agreed on, the Carrows, Pritchard, Harper, and Millicent left, leaving Draco, Blaise, Astoria and myself.

"So what's going on, Blaise?" I settled in a chair next to Draco.

"Damien's shut himself away recently, I'm sure you've noticed the fact that he's left most of the job of bothering you up to Daphne and Theo. The only thing I can figure is he's cracking under the pressure and working to fulfill whatever promises he's made to the Dark Lord."

"You said a part of that plan was getting Draco and I back on their side right?" I glanced at Draco, but his face was blank.

"That's the thing. They think it's going to be so easy to get you guys back. It's almost like they don't consider it a challenge at all, and they're taking their sweet time."

"They're scared, I bet. Scared that if you _do _rejoin them, they'd lose the authority they have now." Astoria rolled her eyes.

"And they think you're a package deal. They think if they can get one of you to come crawling back, the other will follow." As Blaise spoke I could see Draco tense beside me, and I knew it was true. Draco would never go back, but if he did it would be nearly impossible for me to fight against him. I knew he felt the same way.

"We'll just make sure neither of us is tempted." I reassured him.

"Don't worry about temptation, Lexi. Damien tried that, and it didn't end well for him." Astoria tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair. "If they want you, they know they're going to have to trick and manipulate you, that's what you have to look out for."

I nodded. Blaise cut in. "I'd expect you to be their target, Lex. Damien may be busy, but he hasn't forgotten that you've humiliated him twice now."

"Daphne will want to assert her superiority over you." Astoria warned. "She's a monster, Lexi, I can't stress it enough. It's why she's such a good Slytherin; she's perfect on the outside, but underneath she's evil. And she's merciless."

"Sounds like my aunt Bella." Draco commented in a light tone, but none of us laughed. I didn't want to face anyone _half _as deranged and malicious as Draco's aunt.

"And Theo… I can't read him." Blaise admitted. "But he watches you, all the time. He never says anything, never lets us know what he's thinking. He just observes, but in some ways that's worse than Daphne's craziness or Damien's blatant plotting."

It was easy to see why Theo would keep his thoughts to himself. He didn't need help, he was smart enough to accomplish anything on his own.

"Why is he working with Damien? It can't be because he wants the power, Theo is more talented than Damien and held in higher esteem than him in every way, so why is he playing second fiddle?" I wondered.

"Somehow, Damien's goals line up with what Theo wants." Blaise said, then frowned. "I just can't figure out how."

This, if anything, gave us even more reason to get Damien out of Hogwarts. It would be safer for everyone, not just Draco and myself, when he was gone.

* * *

I could barely keep the grin off my face as I waited outside of the Three Broomsticks. Draco rolled his eyes as he walked by with Harper and Pritchard, and I couldn't help but laugh as he led the boys through the village. It seemed Draco always had sidekicks of some sort, though these two were much smarter than Crabbe and Goyle had been.

I glanced around and watched as the Golden Trio hurried by. Potter caught my eye and grinned at me, assuming that he knew why I was waiting by myself. I felt my cheeks warm and looked away.

Suddenly my eyes were covered by a pair of hands. Two pairs of hands, in fact.

"Guess--"

"---who?" Two voice said from behind me. I smiled.

"Hmm, who could it be?" I lifted their hands and turned to see the identical grinning faces of the Weasley twins. I beamed at them and gave them both a hug, George's arm remaining around my waist.

"How've you been, love?" George kissed my forehead and sighed and leaned into his embrace.

"Clearly been missing you, Georgie-boy." Fred pointed out. "Where's my heartfelt smile and swoon, eh Lexi?" I rolled my eyes but laughed.

"Sorry Fred, I guess you're just too much man for me." I teased. This received a roar of laughter from Fred and a strangled protest from George.

"I admit, it's not the first time I've heard that." Fred winked at me, then looked past me and hollered, "Lee! Over here!"

Lee Jordan jogged over to where we were standing, clapping both twins on the back in greeting before looking at me, "Oi! And who is this looking so cosy with our dear boy George?"

"Lee, this is Lexi Conrad, my---" George began but Fred cut him off.

"The light of his life, the simmer in his potion, the ---" George elbowed Fred and continued.

"Or my girlfriend, if you wanted to sum it all up." He finished rather sheepishly. Lee's eyes were much more curious now as they met mine.

"Lexi Conrad? Aren't you Draco's right-hand Slytherin chum?" He grinned. "Interesting."

"Oh yes, she's filled to the brim with sneaky, devious thoughts. I hear she's given Voldemort nightmares, she's so bad." Fred winked again and this time I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Well kids, we'll leave you to your own _devices_." The look Fred shot me was absolutely scandalous before he and Lee headed towards Zonko's.

"And now you've got me all to yourself." George ruffled my hair, ignoring my hand swatting at his to stop him. "You lucky, lucky lady."

"Oh, I don't know. Fred and Lee seemed pretty eager to be rid of you, maybe I should go join them." I made to leave but he pulled me back to him.

"Not a chance." He murmured before pressing his lips against mine.

I felt my heartbeat quicken. Fine by me.

"You know, this is nice." I commented. "Being out here, with you."

"You sure you aren't going to get skewered by your housemates?" George teased, tugging lightly on a lock of my hair. I smiled.

"I'm not worried. The way I see it, Damien, Daphne, and Theo can't possibly be _more _angry with me than they are now. I might as well enjoy it."

"Wanna enjoy it at the Three Broomsticks?" George asked, slipping his hand into mine. I nodded. As silly as it was, I was excited at the thought of going on a real date with George; a date where we didn't have to hide.

Of course, we got strange looks, mostly George from his former classmates.

"They probably think I've confunded you." I whispered. George's eyes lit up and he glanced around the room.

"Oh, no!" He raised his voice slightly so it would carry. "Oh how I wish I weren't being forced to go on a date with a gorgeous witch. You tricky, tricky Slytherin! Alas!" I felt my face heat up, but noticed the laughter coming from the room and the weird looks seemed to diminish.

"Making fun of an awkward situation always makes it less awkward." George confided in me, then frowned, "Except for the time I walked in on Percy and his girlfriend…" I snorted into my drink at the image that forced its way into my head.

"Thanks for that mental scarring." I laughed.

The day passed quickly, not only because I had so much fun with George, but because I knew that the end of our date would mean the beginning of his mission. Finally, much to my dismay, it was time for him to walk my back to the castle gates.

"I don't want you to go." My voice was muffled as I leaned into his chest, his arms around me.

"Don't worry. You'll be seeing my ruggedly handsome face again before you know it." George murmured into my hair before placing a kiss on top of my head.

"I hope so. Be careful, please." My natural inclination towards self-preservation was kicking in, making me less and less understanding of George's decision to agree to help the Order. The defining trait between a Slytherin and Gryffindor was, and always would be, that we lacked the ability to sacrifice ourselves for the noble "greater good".

"Of course I will, love. You and Fred would kill me if I did anything risky, I'd expect."

"Too right I would." I slid my arms around his neck and leaned up to kiss him, his hand cupping the side of my face.

"I love you, and I really will be fine." George whispered in my ear.

"I love you too. You'll let me know as soon as you get back?" I leaned away from him and met his eyes with my own.

"I swear." He grinned and pressed his lips against mine once more. All too soon, he was pulling away. "I'll see you soon, Lexi."

I sighed and watched him walk back towards to village, before heading past the gates onto Hogwarts grounds.

I was walking slowly back towards the castle when someone knocked into me, nearly sending me to the ground. I glanced up at Theo stormed by, a furious look on his face. I raised an eyebrow but shook my head. His issues weren't my problem.

* * *

Breakfast the next morning started out as a quiet affair. Draco and I took our seats at the end of the table, as usual. Damien, Theo, Daphne, and Blaise arrived not shortly after and took their regular seats. It was funny to watch when Damien seemed to trip over the air and fall into the table. I noticed Flora tucking her wand back into her robes and sent her a quick grin. However, most of the students' attention was shifted away from Damien as the mail came in.

I barely noticed when an owl made its way towards me. I did notice, however, when it landed in front of me, a large scarlet envelope attached to it.

I glanced up at Draco with wide eyes. He looked calm but I could see the surprise in his eyes. "Hurry up, Lex, do something before anyone notices." He hissed. I went to grab the letter but a slender hand snatched it away before I had the chance. Daphne smirked down at me.

"Well, what do we have here?" She asked sweetly. "Let's hear what mommy has to say."

The Howler was opened before I could even get out of my seat

_**Alexis Victoria Conrad!**_ My mother's voice commanded the attention of the hall. I closed my eyes tightly before taking on an indifferent expression.

_**You are a disgrace to this family! Although you clearly proved to me this summer your lack of loyalty to your family as well as proper Wizarding pride, I had hoped there was some chance that you would come to your senses. But consorting with one of those awful Weasley twins? Associating with such riff-raff is simply unforgivable. I have never been more disgusted in my life. You are a shame to your house and our family. You no longer deserve to bear the name Conrad. I no longer consider you any daughter of mine!**_

And silence. I swallowed and glanced around the hall. Most students looked shocked, whether at my mother's harsh words or her revealing the nature of mine and George's relationship, I wasn't sure. My eyes snapped back to my own table. Pansy looked straight ahead, no expression in her eyes. Blaise and Astoria had concern in their faces but masked it well. Draco reached across the table and grasped my hand. Damien and Daphne looked as though Christmas had come early.

But none of these quite matched the look of sheer satisfaction on Theodore Nott's face. His eyes locked with mine and he raised an eyebrow and smirked before getting up and walking out of the hall. I glared viciously and followed him.

"Nott!" I yelled. "Nott, get back here!"

"Yes, Lexi?" He asked politely, his face the picture of innocence.

"You didn't seem at all surprised by this." I started casually.

"Maybe I wasn't." He replied coolly. "Then again, maybe you're just looking for someone to blame."

"It wasn't your place, Theo." I hissed.

"You're assuming things again, _Alexis_." He shot back, "Not only that, but let's say, hypothetically, I _did _spy your rather disgusting display of affection with George Weasley yesterday. And let's also _pretend _that I then wrote to your mother about it. Why would you, in this completely fabricated situation, care?"

"I don't _care_!" I sputtered, "Just-- _Howler_--- it's embarrassing!"

"I would've thought that someone who has so _boldly _renounced her family would be more than happy to shove a rebellious relationship in their faces." Theo stepped closer to me, "And someone who truly wants to be _good _wouldn't be so eager to keep her dating a blood-traitor like Weasley a secret."

I stepped back and Theo continued to approach me. "I'm not ashamed of anything, except for my family's despicable behavior." I felt my back hit the stone wall and froze as Theo's body pressed against mine. He leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"I think you are ashamed, and I think deep down this is all temporary. That's why you didn't want your family to find out about George Weasley, and why you didn't let everyone know about it. Subconsciously, you know as well as I do that you're going to end up back where you belong."

"And where is that, Nott?" My skin crawled as he turned his face, his nose momentarily brushing against my cheek before he stepped back.

"With us, of course." And with that, he walked off, leaving me feeling sick to my stomach, and furious.

I leaned my head against the wall, having been firmly reminded of the danger Theodore Nott posed, but still having no answers as to his motives.

* * *

Yay! Okay this was probably my favorite chapter to write thus far! Let me know what you guys think, please, I'm open to any constructive criticism!

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	5. 5: Reactions, Syrup, and Favors

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**Chapter 5: Reactions, Syrup, and Favors**

The worst part about the aftermath of my mother's Howler was that I couldn't tell George about any of it.

Certainly the whispers were bad, but being a Slytherin I'd grown used to those by my third year. The glares I got from my housemates were irritating, but not unexpected. The glares from the other Houses were a bit more surprising; they seemed to think I was going to corrupt and ruin George Weasley, and as George had been very well-liked during his time at Hogwarts people weren't too pleased at the thought of me influencing him.

And it couldn't have come at a worse time, as far as our plans to get rid of Damien were concerned. If people had been reluctant to associate with me before, my reputation at this point made me socially toxic.

"Maybe it would be easier if I took a break from this." I said one night to Draco and Astoria. "So people would be more willing to side with you guys."

Astoria shook her head, "And leave you alone for them to pounce on? That's what they want, Lexi. They aren't trying to hurt you, remember, they're trying to _recruit _you."

"You say that like they aren't the same." I muttered, but the subject was put to rest as we approached the Common Room and entered.

"Lexi! Why aren't you in the Gryffindor Common Room with all the other Weasley-loving blood traitors?" Pansy squealed from her place on the couch by the green fire. I fought off a scowl as the rest of the house laughed. Although I knew Pansy was putting on an act, since she'd known about George and I long ago, I still couldn't help the embarrassment that welled up inside me at being looked down upon by the people who had once looked up to me.

Was I _ashamed _of George? I averted my eyes from Pansy's face and instead found Theo gazing back at me. He smirked and for a moment I thought he knew what I was thinking about. I narrowed my eyes and went up to my room, Astoria moving to follow me.

"Astoria!" Daphne snapped at her, "Get over here."

I stopped and turned to see Astoria clench her fists, "Yes, Daph?"

"Our parents wouldn't be pleased to find out the company you've been keeping lately. Don't think I haven't noticed." Daphne said, her tone dripping with false sweetness.

"Good to know, sis. I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Wouldn't want our parents to worry." Astoria replied just as cheerfully before stomping past me. I rolled my eyes at Daphne and continued on my way to my room.

I sighed as I saw Astoria sitting on my bed, fuming. "She really gets to you, doesn't she?"

"She's always got to rub it in that our parents prefer her over me." Astoria rolled her eyes.

I hesitated, "I'm sure that isn't true." They were empty words, and we both knew it. Having parents in Voldemort's service made them dysfunctional almost by default.

"No, you know it is." She shook her head, "Daph's perfect, cunning, witty. She's heartless just like they are. I just don't care, but Daphne takes pleasure in other people's pain. She's a _gem _to them."

I thought for a moment before I said, "I think it's time to crack Daphne."

Astoria grinned, "Finally."

* * *

"I thought the plan was to get to Damien first." Draco said as we walked to class. "Do we really have the manpower to take them both out at the same time?"

"By all means continue working on uncovering Damien's allegiance to the Dark Lord. Daphne's a personal project Astoria and I will handle." I replied.

"You really think that's wise?"

"You really think I can't handle her?" I shot back.

"I think she's got a lot of resources at her disposal, and you better be careful." Draco squeezed my hand.

I smiled, "I will."

"Have you heard from Weasley yet?" Draco asked. He had been getting much better at saying George's surname without sounding completely disgusted, but there was still a distinct note of disdain in his tone.

I forced a smiled, "Ah, yes, just the other night." I lied. Of course I trusted Draco, but I didn't want anyone else to know George was in the Order, let alone on a mission.

"And? What's his plan?" Draco looked at me expectantly.

"Plan?" I repeated.

"To get back at Theo? Lexi, he pranked his family and friends for messing with you, I'd imagine he'd be planning something to get back at Nott for what he did."

I looked down. I'd hadn't even spoken to George, so he had no idea that there was anything wrong. I wasn't exactly sure what I would tell him, either. I couldn't explain to him that Theo's idea of tormenting me was making our relationship public knowledge. What's worse, I could never let him know it worked.

"George isn't in school any more, Draco. He shouldn't have to fight my battles for me." I smiled, "Besides, this is something I want to handle myself."

Draco gave me a look and opened his mouth to respond but at that moment Professor Flitwick began class. I shrugged and settled back to listen.

* * *

"Ready?" Astoria whispered to me from behind a suit of armor. I nodded.

"I feel like a buffoon, hiding out here though." I whispered from the alcove where I was standing.

"Shhh! She'll be coming out of Divination soon, she has Arithmancy afterwards and she's bound to walk this way. Keep an eye out." Astoria hissed.

"You sure you can do this?"

"Absolutely. Here she comes. Now make it convincing."

"You too." I muttered as I stepped out of the alcove, making it seem as though I'd just turned the corner. I was spotted almost immediately.

"Alexis Conrad. Actually roaming about without her bodyguard?" Daphne sneered as she approached me.

I smirked, "Must be your lucky day, Greengrass."

"I do have a question though, Lexi. How does it feel to have fallen so, so far?" Daphne cocked her head to the side, "I remember when I actually used to admire you. If I had known it was this easy to ruin your reputation, I would've done it ages ago."

"Sadly for you, Daph, we both know you're just my replacement. How does it feel to be second best?" I smiled, "Don't worry, I'll be taking my place back at the top soon enough." Daphne's eyes narrowed and I saw her reach into her pocket, presumably for her wand.

"Don't bother with her Daphne, she isn't worth it." Astoria's voice sounded from behind her sister as she joined us.

"Really Tori? You seem to think differently." Daphne hissed at her sister.

"I did. Come on, Daph, you can hardly blame me for feeling Lexi out, to see which of you would end up winning out." She paused, "But without a doubt it's going to be you." She reached up and grabbed her sister's arm lightly, brushing against her school bag. "But a deserted hallway is neither the time nor place for this to occur, you know that. Save it for when it counts." Astoria urged her sister.

Daphne rolled her eyes and but her wand away, before turning back to me. "First Theo, now Tori. You're awfully lucky, Conrad, but eventually it'll run out." She turned on her hell and walked away, Astoria following her.

I smiled. Now we just had to wait.

Later that day Draco and I walked to Transfiguration. I took a seat in the back of the class as usual and Draco sat next to me. Daphne and Theo walked in, took one look at us, and sat towards the front. I held back a smile. Just as planned.

It wasn't long before I saw my moment of opportunity. McGonagall was collecting homework, and just as she was about to pass Daphne's seat, her bag split, spilling its contents. While most of the class was distracted as Daphne's thing scattered all over the floor, Draco turned to me just in time to see my wand slip back into my robes.

Professor McGonagall waited patiently for Daphne's homework while she scrambled about on the floor, trying to find the correct roll of parchment.

"Is this your idea of humiliating Daphne?" Draco murmured, "Not impressed, Lex."

I smiled, "Wait for it…" He didn't have to wait long.

"Would you care to explain this, Miss Greengrass?" Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed as she held up a leaf of parchment that had fallen out of Daphne's bag. Daphne grabbed the parchment and looked at it with wide eyes.

"Professor, I have no idea how this got here." She shook her head.

"You have no idea how the exam key for our next test got into your bag? Funny." McGonagall did not look amused. Everyone knew that out of any one teacher in the school, the Transfiguration Professor was the last one you wanted to be caught cheating by. She had a zero-tolerance policy, and there were no chances to redeem yourself.

I sat back and grinned as McGonagall gave Daphne a week's worth of detention along with a failing grade on our next exam. She also promised to write a letter to Daphne's parents.

Draco nudged me as the lesson continued. "Well done." He was smiling. Everyone knew Daphne prided herself on her academic record, as well as having most of the professors at Hogwarts blind to her malicious nature. Taking that away, especially in front of one of the most formidable of the Hogwarts professors, was quite a blow.

I brushed some imaginary lint off of my shoulder and replied, "I do what I can."

* * *

I looked critically in the mirror for a moment before shaking my head and exiting the bathroom. Transfiguration had just ended and I told Draco I would meet him back in the Common Room.

"Clever, Lexi." Theo was leaning against the wall opposite the restroom.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Theo." I said promptly and continued down the hall. Theo fell into step beside me.

"It was pretty ingenious, really. I'm impressed." He carried on conversationally.

I rolled my eyes. "I'd thank you if I knew what I did to impress you." I replied innocently.

"How did you do it, though?" Theo tapped his finger against his chin.

"I'm sure if I were responsible for whatever it is you're talking about, I wouldn't be daft enough to let you in on my secrets."

"Let's not beat around the bush, Lexi. Only a Gryffindor or Slytherin would have the gall to steal McGonagall's exam key from her classroom, but only a truly cunning Slytherin could actually pull it off _and _frame another student _without _getting caught." Theo said simply. "You're the only one that fit's the bill."

"You've either got an extraordinary amount of faith in my abilities, or you've got a gross lack of faith in your classmates." I shrugged, "Either way, you can't prove a thing."

Theo raised his eyebrows "Selling yourself short? This is a new personality trait. Must be due to the modest Gryffindors you've surrounded yourself with as of late."

I laughed, "There's nothing wrong with being modest."

"But there is something wrong with rejecting praise where praise is due. Don't feel obligated to feel ashamed of the fact that you're one of the more brilliant and cunning students in the school. Just because modesty suits Potter doesn't mean we all have to downplay our talents."

I bit my lower lip. "Thanks for the lesson in human nature, Theo, but I'll pass."

"I'm just pointing it out, Lexi. You can accomplish so much more once you realize and embrace all of your talents." He paused, "Even those that some would consider less than admirable."

"Like coercion, lying, manipulation? But wait, that's just another day at work for your friends, huh?" I asked sweetly as we neared the Common Room.

"And what you did to Daphne was the epitome of fair play, am I right?" He countered. I was momentarily flustered but regained my composure.

"Daphne's crazy." Theo scoffed but I continued, "Everyone can see it. She's a threat to everyone around her as long as she thinks she's got a bit of power. The ends justify the means."

Theo uttered the password and stood aside, letting me enter the Common Room first. As I passed, however, I heard him say softly, "I wonder if George would agree?" I gave him a sharp look and walked quickly into the Common Room.

"What took so long?" Draco asked, as I took a seat in the corner of the room with him.

"Nothing, just Theo being annoying as usual."

"Did he hurt you?" Draco was immediately protective.

I rolled my eyes. "No, he was just cryptic and annoyingly intellectual, as he always is." I leaned my head against Draco's shoulder as I mulled over Theo's words.

On the one hand, I was pretty sure George and anyone else would understand why I did what I did to Daphne. Suddenly, though, my mind flashed back to last year when I had humiliated Leanne, and I wasn't so confident.

Would George be angry or disappointed if he found out the means I was willing to go to in order to make sure Daphne was no longer a threat to me? We handled things differently in Slytherin. We were sneaky and cunning by nature, and no one could expect me to give up a natural advantage in order to be _noble_.

Well, except for a few Gryffindors. Noble was practically their middle name.

I sighed. This might be another thing I shouldn't tell George about.

* * *

The next morning I woke up and went to the Great Hall for breakfast as usual. I entered and was slightly deterred by the silence that seemed to overcome the Slytherin table. As I approached, I shook my head and found the reason for their silence.

Other than the seats that were currently being occupied, there were absolutely no empty plates at the Slytherin table. I rolled my eyes as I approached Draco, who look at me apologetically.

"It's more of a statement than anything else. Clearly you can still eat without a plate. You can use my goblet." He offered. I smiled.

"Really, this is a bit of a pathetic attempt." I shrugged, "But if it's the best the elder Greengrass can do…"

I sat down and it turned out that indeed, Daphne Greengrass could do better. My body, no doubt through some rather crafty spell work, actually went through the bench. My hands flailed out to try and steady my fall, but instead of grasping the edge of the table I knocked the pitcher of pumpkin juice onto myself, thoroughly soaking my robes and the clothes I had on underneath. I landed on the floor and the pitcher clattered next to me, drawing the attention of most people in the Great Hall. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment at the utter silence that met my ears.

Then I heard laughter coming from somewhere to my right. I glanced up to see Daphne Greengrass laughing at me. I clenched my fists and stood quickly, decision made.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the school, the Slytherin House was at war with itself. Blaise, Draco and myself against Damien, Theo and Daphne. I took one last glance down at my soiled robes before striding over to where Daphne was sitting.

The conflict was about to go public.

"All right there, Lexi?" Daphne asked sweetly as I approached, "You really ought to be more careful, you know."

"Spare me the fake pleasantries, Greengrass." I hissed. "You want a fight? You've got one." And with that, I reached over Theo and grabbed the syrup pitcher, swiftly pouring the contents over Daphne's head. She let out a shriek of outrage as the sticky substance trailed through her hair and down her face.

"You worthless little heathen!" She shrieked. By now the entire Hall, even the teachers, were watching with shocked interest. "Do you have any idea---"

I cut her off, "Oh, I know perfectly well what I've done. I would say _you're _the one who has no idea what she's started. Contrary to what you may think, you are no match for me. Watch your step, Daphne. I'm _more _than willing to remind why I've been at the top of this house for the past 6 years, not _you_."

Daphne stood up, her face inches from mine, "Just wait, Conrad. The very second _he_ says I can, the very _minute _I get the word, I will destroy you." She threatened. I laughed.

"Bring it on. While you're waiting for _permission_, I'll be busy tearing you apart." At this point we were forcibly moved away from each other by Professor Snape, who angrily ordered us both to the Headmaster's office. Looking around for an impartial escort, he told Hannah Abbott to lead us there, since as a Prefect she'd have the password.

The trip to Dumbledore's office was unpleasant for more reasons than one. Not only was there obvious tension between myself and Daphne, but the Abbott girl was clearly scared out of her wits by us and would nervously glance between the two of us, repeatedly. Not only that, but the pumpkin juice had no soaked completely through my clothes to my skin, and was staring to stick. I looked over and snorted in amusement as Daphne attempted to get the syrup out of her hair, her eyes narrowing in frustration as her hair stuck up at odd angles.

"Er, here we are, uh, Professor Snape said to go in one at a time, uh, so…" Daphne cut the Hufflepuff off by heading up the stairs. She glanced at me as Daphne left. "Should I wait here with you?" I shrugged. She nodded and stood on the opposite side of the door as me.

We waited for about ten minutes when Daphne emerged from the office. She threw me a glare before heading back down the hallway, presumably to clean herself up in the Prefects' bathroom.

I headed up to Dumbledore's office with a feeling of dread settling in the pit of my stomach. I entered to the sight of him sitting behind his desk, as serene as ever.

"Good morning, Miss Conrad. Please sit. Have a scone, if you will." He paused, his eyes twinkling, "It is my understanding that you didn't get to get breakfast this morning."

I wasn't sure whether he meant for me to laugh at that or not. Torn, I made a strangled sort of noise in the back of my throat.

"Ah, forgive me. My attempt at humor. I always forget that students are not so ready to accept my teasing. Only the Weasley twins, along with James Potter and Sirius Black, ever really took it in stride." He said thoughtfully. I was completely thrown. Wasn't this a disciplinary meeting?

"Now let us get down to the business at hand." Dumbledore looked at me solemnly.

"Look, Professor, I'm sorry I poured syrup on Daphne's head." I shrugged. Dumbledore chuckled.

"I will admit that is one of the stranger apologies I've gotten." He confided. "However, though it is seemingly obvious that you believe Miss Greengrass to be responsible for the charming of the plates as well as the bench at your table this morning, we have no way of proving this." He paused, "Just as I told Miss Greengrass we have no way of proving she did not consciously cheat on her Transfiguration exam." I kept my face void of emotion as Dumbledore said this.

"However, for your part in today's festivities, I am assigning you one night of detention." Dumbledore paused, and I swore his mouth twitched, "It was, after all, only syrup."

I grinned. He continued, "There is, however, a favor I have to ask of you, Miss Conrad." He looked toward the door. "You may come in, Harry."

Potter walked in, looking at me, an amused smile playing on his mouth. "You're a bit wet, Conrad, did you know?" I rolled my eyes.

"Hilarious, Potter. If being Savior to the wizarding world doesn't work out, you should pursue a career in comedy for sure."

Dumbledore regarded us with obvious amusement, "Yes, I think you both will make an admirable team." Our heads snapped towards the headmaster at the same time.

"Team?" We asked in unison.

"If you are willing. Miss Conrad, I am hardly a fool. I am well aware of the Voldemort's attempts to infiltrate Hogwarts, and of his using students to try and achieve those ends."

I nodded. I knew for a fact Damien was one of them, and if Daphne's earlier words were anything to go by she was working for Voldemort already as well.

"That is where the two of you come in. Miss Conrad, I believe your place in the Slytherin house, as well as the connections you have, will enable you to hear things other people cannot." Dumbledore paused, "I also happen to have the utmost confidence that you possess those qualities which Slytherin is most well known for---cunning and ambition---and will be able to utilize these traits to your advantage."

He turned to Potter, "We must also not operate under the potentially fatal assumption that only Slytherins can be Death Eaters. This is where you come in, Harry. I trust that you can adequately observe Gryffindor house, and perhaps find some trustworthy friends in the other houses to do so as well?" Potter nodded and they both turned to face me.

On one hand, I wasn't sure I wanted to associate myself so obviously with Dumbledore and his cause. It was one thing to abandon my family to be neutral in the war, but it was another thing entirely to join Dumbledore's forced. I knew how it had ended for Sirius Black, and I wasn't eager to follow in his footsteps.

On the other hand, I could clearly use this to my advantage. Dumbledore's proposition and my goals were similarly aligned. He wanted to know who the Death Eaters in the school were. I wanted Damien and Daphne out. If I could prove, under Dumbledore's orders, that they were working to help Voldemort take over the school their expulsion would be nearly guaranteed.

I finally nodded. "I'll do it."

Dumbledore clapped his hands together, "Excellent! Now, I'm sure you want to get cleaned up, Miss Conrad, and unless I am mistaken, Harry, you have class to attend, so I will let the two of you go about your day. We will have a meeting later in the week to discuss your progress. Until then, keep your ears open."

Potter and I nodded and left Dumbledore's office. We reached the bottom of the stairs before he glanced over at me, a smirk on his face.

"Oh, just say it already." I snapped, though I wasn't really angry.

"We're a team now, Lexi, you ought to treat me better than that." Potter grinned.

"I don't know why you get so much pleasure out of this, Potter."

"Call me Harry. And I remember telling you once that you weren't as bad as you thought, and now this proves it. I like being right. I'm friends with Hermione, you know, I don't get the chance to say 'I told you so' very often." Potter smiled.

"Don't get used to it, Harry." I said, smiling sweetly at him, "I hope you're ready to go about this the Slytherin way. If we want to find out who's work for Voldemort, we can't play nice with them."

"I think I'll be able to manage. Just answer me one thing." Potter asked as we walked down the hallway together.

"What?"

"This 'Slytherin way' you're talking about…. Syrup isn't always involved, right?" Potter chuckled at his own joke and I fought to keep a smile off my face. Instead, I swatted at his head.

"Better watch that cheek, _Harry_."

* * *

OKAY! I am so, so, so, so, SO sorry for not updating in such a long time! I got so swamped with schoolwork and had writers block for the longest time. I hope this chapter turned out well because I had such a hard time writing it!

However, most of you have correctly guessed Theo's intentions, good for you! Now you will just have to see how it plays out, don't think it's going to be so easy for Lexi to rebuff his advances!

Anyway, I'm out of school for the summer and I have a much better idea of what exactly the next few chapters will contain (more specifically how I want to write them) so hopefully the chapters will keep coming at a steady pace.

I have the entire plot of this fic outlined, it's just hard sometimes to translate my plot from outline to actually text and dialogue, but it should be easier as we get thicker into the plot. Anyway…

Next chapter will have more sneakiness on Lexi's part, more devious Theo, more banter between the two (I really like Theo/Lexi banter) as well as a bit of Draco! Also, Blaise will return, and while George probably won't be in this chapter he will be back soon enough!

As always, reviews are loved and appreciated! Thank you so much for sticking with this story!


	6. 6: The Art of Spying

YAY new chapter! Geesh it's taken me long enough! Anyway, onward!

_Disclaimer: Duuuh I don't own HP, if I did Fred would be alive and the Slytherins would be way more badass than they are!_

**Chapter 6: The Art of Spying**

Over the years I have learned a lot through simple observation. People are all too often wrapped up in their own lives to notice when others are watching them, be it conscious or not. You can learn a lot about people either by listening to their casual conversations or by simply paying attention to their movements and everyday behavior.

However, I soon learned after agreeing to help Dumbledore that spying and observing were two totally different games. I tried to glean information simply through casual observation, but soon found out that the people I was supposed to be spying on (suspicious members of the Slytherin House such as Damien, Daphne, and Theo) were well versed in keeping their private matters private.

I'd have to make a conscious effort to snoop if I wanted to find anything out.

While this wasn't surprising, I was annoyed. Of course they'd be good at keeping secrets; they were Death Eaters living right under Dumbledore's nose. They hadn't gone unnoticed this long by being conspicuous.

I drummed my fingers against the table I was currently seated at in the back of the library. I decided to begin with Daphne, as I was worried that Theo was clever enough to catch on if I tried to openly spy on him. Although I could delegate the task of snooping through Daphne's life to others, not only did Dumbledore assign me specifically to this task, but I didn't trust anyone else to do it as well as I knew I could.

I pulled out a bit of parchment and began writing a letter.

I'd need some supplies, first.

* * *

Spying was officially boring.

I rolled my eyes, though no one could see me (or my eye-rolling, for that matter) from the Disillusionment charm I'd placed upon myself. I was currently stuffed away in a dark corner of the courtyard, listening in on Daphne's conversation with some of the older Slytherin girls, hoping she'd slip up and reveal something worth noting about her allegiance to the Dark Lord.

Of course through the duration of the conversation she'd praised him and his ideology many times, but her simply sharing Death Eater's belief wasn't enough to get her expelled. Dumbledore had been very specific in that aspect. The only thing I was to report was if anyone appeared to be _working_ for the Dark Lord.

But at this point the conversation I'd been listening to was more vapid than informative. I didn't care about the gossip Daphne had gotten from her mother's latest letter, and I certainly didn't see why the number of anti-aging potions Mrs. Bullstrode was using was of any interest to the group of girls.

"And you know, my mother said Narcissa Malfoy hasn't left the manor yet, not since her husband's death and Draco's… _defection_." Daphne lowered her voice for dramatic appeal, forcing the girls around her to lean in.

"And she won't let anyone in?" A girl asked.

"Not _anyone_." Daphne said meaningfully, "It appears she's so far gone with grief and shame that all sense has left her. She isn't listening to anyone anymore. At least, that's what Bella told me." Daphne commented offhandedly.

"Bella?" Another girl gasped, "Daphne, you don't mean Bellatrix L-"

Daphne cut her off, "Bella isn't so bad, you know, once you get past all the crazy that's built up in her over the years. She's very well-versed in thing that Hogwarts doesn't deem important enough to teach, if you know what I mean."

My head snapped up. This was certainly something to note. I listened closely but it appeared that Daphne had nothing else to say, or had realized the delicate nature of what she'd been speaking of. Either way, she said nothing else that could've been considered incriminating.

Because, in my book, at least, associating with an escaped Azkaban convict (who also happened to be one of the frightening Death Eaters of the day) was certainly incriminating. And being taught by Bellatrix Lestrange was definitely cause for concern.

Daphne and her friends eventually left, and I quickly emerged from my hiding place and made myself visible. I'd done quite enough for one day. In any case, there was something more important I needed to take care of.

I hurried down to the Common Room, where I found Draco playing chess with Harper, Astoria looking on.

"Draco." I nudged him. He glanced up quickly before looking back to the game.

"Yes, Lexi?"

"I need to speak with you about something… fairly important."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "All right, Lex. Give me a second."

I watched as Draco quickly dispatched Harper's queen and won the game soon after. I grinned, Draco was a wizard's chess champion.

"All right, let's go to my room." Draco grabbed my arm and led me to the 7th year dorms. We walked in to the thankfully empty room and Draco sat on his bed. I took a seat. "Is something wrong?" Draco asked.

"I, uh, wanted to talk to you about… your Mum." I said quickly. Draco stiffened but responded in a nonchalant tone.

"My mother? Oh."

"Yeah, I'd…, I was- I overhead Daphne, and she mentioned Narcissa." I paused, "She says she hasn't left the house since…"

Draco nodded. "That's what I'd heard too."

"She won't let anyone in either. No one. Not even Bella or…" I trailed off again.

Draco sighed, "Yeah."

"Are you gonna try to… talk to her?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know." Draco shrugged, trying to appear as though the topic of conversation wasn't an uncomfortable one. "I don't know if I should."

"She was a wreck when you were in the hospital." I looked down, "I'm positive that she had no idea that Lucius was involved. She never would have allowed it."

Draco closed his eyes. "She'd still be so ashamed of me." I leaned against him and squeezed his hand.

"You know, unlike my mother, I think to Narcissa, you are the most important thing in the world. I think… I think she'd be willing to overlook a lot, to have you back in her life." I sighed, "She's all alone, you know."

Draco massaged his temples. "I know she is. It's difficult, because I'm so different from what I know my parents had planned for me."

"You're better, Draco." I hugged him. "And your mom loves you enough that it won't matter. It might take her some time to get used to it but no matter what she loves you more than she loves anything else."

"Maybe… I'll write to her." Draco paused, "What about your parents?"

"My parents made their choice." I paused, "They, ah, could never look past our differences. It's fine though."

Draco pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You know, I've always considered you my family."

I smiled, "I know."

Theo walked into the dorm suddenly, and as he spotted us his eyes narrowed.

"I don't think your blood traitor boyfriend would appreciate this sight very much." Theo said shortly.

I opened my mouth but Draco stepped in. "What's it to you, Nott? You've got no place in Lexi's life, so it's none of your concern." Theo stiffened, much to my confusion.

He apparently chose to ignore Draco's comment, instead saying to me, "Aren't Gryffindors all about loyalty, Lexi? Wouldn't Weasley be surprised…"

"George happens to trust me, not that it's any of your business. And your idea of loyalty and mine are a bit different, aren't they?"

"Oh, a rather pointed accusation, Miss C—hey, what is your last name now? Are you still using the name Conrad even though your parents have practically disowned you?" Theo asked lightly.

"I disowned _them_, if you'll recall. And you don't need to so nastily change the subject. All I was trying to say is that I don't need an ugly tattoo to prove my loyalty to George." I was fishing and I knew it, but I wasn't sure I'd get another opportunity to personally breach this subject with any of the Slytherins I was supposed to be watching.

"No, you've got an ugly enough boyfriend that a tattoo to remind you of him would be redundant." Theo smirked at my furious expression. He headed toward the bathroom and added, "And don't flatter yourself into thinking you're going to outsmart me, Lexi. We both know I'm not that stupid. I won't admit anything."

"But you are admitting you have something to hide?" I challenged.

He chuckled, "We're Slytherins, Lexi. Don't we all?" He disappeared into the bathroom, leaving me disappointed and Draco confused.

* * *

"So you're saying you agreed to help Dumbledore? Lexi are you _mad_?" Draco hissed at me. After my semi-interrogation of Nott in the boys dorms, Draco had demanded an explanation. I therefore took him up to the Room of Requirement, where I was sure we wouldn't be overheard, and explained my meeting with Potter and Dumbledore.

"I know it isn't the most cautious thing for me to be doing, but aren't we trying to get Somers, Daphne, and Theo caught and kicked out anyway? Now I've just got an official reason to do it." I shrugged.

"You really think this is wise? Lexi, getting this involved in the war is exactly what we've been trying to stay away from!"

"Draco, we're no safer staying out of the war than we are getting involved!" Draco gave me an incredulous look, "Okay, we would be a lot safer if we could just move to… Canada or something, but that isn't an option. Staying out of this war isn't an option. We're always going to be a target, we might as well disable as many of Voldemort's resources as we can. It'll make things safer for us!" I ranted.

"So you want me to help, then? You've been speaking in plural all this time." Draco pointed out. I shrugged, as I hadn't even noticed.

"I guess so. It's just, when I imagine fighting anything, I'm always right alongside you, you know?"

Draco sighed dramatically. "I know. And you know I'll help you. I can't just leave you to your own devices; someone's got to keep you out of trouble." He smirked. "Besides, we are some of the cleverest students in Hogwarts. If we can't uncover the dirty truth, _Potter_ certainly can't." I laughed at this.

"Blaise is sort of already doing this, so I'm sure he'll jump onboard." I added.

Draco grinned, "Looks like the three of us will be back in business."

I smirked, "Hogwarts won't know what hit them." I sighed, "I've actually got to meet Potter tomorrow. Shall I let him know that you're going to be serving as my… side-kick?" I grinned mischievously.

Draco looked highly offended, as I predicted. "Side-kick? I had better never hear you refer to me as your _side-kick_! Equal and willing co-conspirator is an acceptable title, thank you."

I only continued to grin at him, "Whatever you say, Drakey." His groan only served to widen the smile on my face.

* * *

"Potter." I greeted as he walked into the classroom we agreed to meet in.

"I've told you, Lexi, it's Harry." He grinned. I rolled my eyes.

"So, have you gotten anything yet?" I got straight to the point.

"Err, well, I wasn't exactly sure what to look for. I mean, it's not like any student Death Eaters are going to run around bragging about it." He paused, "You know, except if they're in Slytherin."

I scowled, "I'm going to let that comment slide, Potter, mostly because it's kind of true. Anyway, have you noticed anyone acting strangely, you know, especially around you?"

"People always act weird around me." Harry admitted.

"I mean… Potter, for Merlin's sake, you're the poster child for everything that is in opposition to Voldemort. If someone is working for him they aren't going to be chummy with you!"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not very good at sneaking around… I was thinking that's why we were supposed to work together. You could… teach me?"

I bit back a smile, "Are you telling me that Harry Potter wants to learn my Slytherin tricks? What would the world say?"

Harry smiled back, "Nothing they haven't said before. I've already been accused of unleashing a giant serpent on the school… It can't get much worse than that."

I laughed, "I remember that! What a joke, Hogwarts students are so gullible. You'd have never had the nerve to be the Heir of Slytherin."

Harry frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

I shrugged, "Just that you're so obviously _not_ a Slytherin."

"The sorting hat thought about putting me in Slytherin, you know."

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows as I tried to imagine a Slytherin Harry Potter. Would he and Draco have been friends? Would he have made our group a quartet instead of a trio? "What made it decide Gryffindor?"

"I asked it to put me there." Harry paused, "No offense."

I rolled my eyes, "My point exactly then. No true Slytherin would ever ask to be placed elsewhere."

"Slytherin doesn't have the best reputation, you know." He pointed out. I shrugged.

"Regardless, Slytherins in general are very successful in whatever they choose to do. Admittedly some of us have questionable morals and may not be completely honorable when achieving our goals, but we know how to get what we want." I paused, and then smirked. "So, what you're saying is, you weren't _brave_ enough to be put into Slytherin?"

Harry laughed, "When you put it that way it just sounds ridiculous."

I smiled, "Just face it, Potter. You just don't have it in you to be nefarious like a Slytherin does. I'll try my best to teach you our ways, hopefully something will rub off and you won't be such a goody-goody." I teased.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I'm honored to be learning from such a master."

I grinned, "You should be. Now, here's what I'm thinking. No one is going to tell us outright if they're working for the Dark Lord, so we've either got to trick it out of them, or catch them… I don't think you're quite up for outright trickery, so it's going to have to be sneaking around for you."

Harry nodded and I continued, "I've already owled Fred and he's going to send us some Extendable Ears. That'll be a good start, anyway. I also was thinking about checking the mail of some of my fellow Slytherins, you might want to consider doing the same…"

At this point Harry jumped in, "Searching the post? Isn't that a bit.. Isn't that kind of wrong?"

I cocked my head to the side, "Harry, it's not like we'll be reading everyone's mail, just persons of interest. Besides, you're working with Slytherins now. Slytherins never play by the rules. How do you expect to get anything accomplished that way?"

"I don't know…"

"Look, Harry. Death Eaters, Voldemort, they will do any and everything to destroy whatever is in their way. I think, in order to stop them, a little rule-bending is acceptable." I shrugged, "Daphne Greengrass is crazy and if I have to do a few morally reprehensible things to get her out of Hogwarts-and preferably in Azkaban-then I'll do it."

Harry thought for a moment, then nodded, "I guess…"

"You wanted to know how a Slytherin would do this, Harry. We break rules pretty regularly, you know." I gave him a small smile. "I'm also thinking of getting magical recording devices and planting them in my dorm room as well as Draco's. I know this would be difficult for you to do, especially in the other houses, but maybe if you could somehow get access to their Common Rooms?"

Harry nodded again, "That shouldn't be too hard."

I smirked, "Then we'll get to work and meet Dumbledore in a week, hopefully with something to report?"

"Yeah. Do you think we should meet before that? Just so we know what we're gonna tell him…"

"Sure, sounds good to me." I stood to leave. "Oh by the way Potter. Draco and Blaise are going to be helping me out. Just to let you know."

"Well, you know Hermione will want to help me all she can." Harry grinned. I rolled my eyes.

"Know-it-all Granger…" I muttered.

"You guys would be quite a team, you know." Harry said thoughtfully.

I frowned in mock-sadness, "But Harry, I do so enjoy being your teammate! I thought we made a great team!" I shook my head.

Harry laughed, but said "I think you'd get along, if you gave it a chance."

I snorted and picked up my bag, "And that is where this meeting ends. Later, Potter!"

"Back to Potter, Lexi?" Harry called after me. I smiled as I left.

I'd rather die than admit it out loud, but Harry Potter was actually pretty funny.

* * *

It was a few days later that I stumbled upon my first bit of useful, but disturbing, piece of information. For all my plotting that had been going on, as well as searching through Damien, Theo, and Daphne's mail, I hadn't heard anything until I was innocently on my way to class.

I had just cut through a secret passageway that would take me to right outside the Charms room. I knew I'd be a bit early but figured it wouldn't matter. I was about to step from behind the tapestry that hid the passage when I heard Damien and Theo talking. I stopped and listened.

"And you're sure it'll work?" Damien whispered.

Theo hummed for a moment before responding, "I'm not entirely sure of anything, Damien. We'll have to try it small scale first. It's never been attemped."

"But in theory?"

"In theory, it should work. But theory and reality are two very different things, especially when it comes to the temperament of magic."

"So we try… and if it works…" Damien trailed off.

"If it works, problem solved." Theo finished for him. I heard the sounds of them moving into the classroom. I stayed hidden until I heard another student walk by and into the room before heading into Charms myself.

I had no idea what they could've been talking about, but I knew one thing for sure.

Any problem that Damien had that was so pressing he needed Theo's help was one I definitely didn't want to see solved.

* * *

Okay! Thank you guys so much for being patient, I had such a hard time writing this chapter. Next chapter I prooooomise George will be in it, as well as more Draco, more Astoria, and even a confrontation between George and Theo! Fun, huh?

Anyway, as always please review! You guys really make my day when you do, I am always in shock of how many people seem to enjoy this story, all of your kind words mean so much to me!

Thank you again!


	7. 7: Revelations and Returns

Hi guys! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and since you all were so great with your reviews I worked quickly to get this chapter done before I leave for vacation! I'll be gone for a week so there won't be any updates then but I'll do my best to get one out a few days after I get back! Thanks again!

**Chapter 7: Revelations and Returns**

I quickly let Draco, Blaise, and Harry know of the overheard conversation between Theo and Damien. While the conversation itself was suspicious, there was no way to know what it was about, or if it's subject was anything that could harm anyone in the school. Of course, there was nothing particularly threatening about the conversation when overheard by someone impartial, but I knew Nott and Somers, and I knew they were up to no good.

Unfortunately, it wasn't anywhere near enough to get them kicked out.

"It's frustrating." I said to Draco one day on the way to Potions, "It's like we're just sitting, waiting. We know something is coming and we could prevent it but we _can't_ because we have no proof."

Draco shrugged, "There isn't anything we can do until we learn something of more importance. You've been searching their post, right?"

I nodded, though I had been scanning Damien, Daphne, and Theo's mail (and even occasionally Crabbe and Goyle's) nothing of interest had turned up. Either they were being left completely without outside help to complete their mission, or they were communicating through different means.

My eyes widened at that thought. Alternative forms of communication weren't that hard to come by, I was a perfect example of that.

"What if they aren't talking through owls? Are the fireplaces being monitored? What if they have other devices that let them talk to each other?"

"Filch scanned us all for dark items, remember? And they're scanning the post too." Draco pointed out.

I shook my head, "An object doesn't have to be inherently dark for it to be used for sinister purposes." I retorted. Draco hummed softly under his breath.

"We could always do a search." He suggested. I nodded.

"It seems like that's our only option right now." I groaned.

* * *

I shuffled through a few papers on Theo's desk before sighing in frustration. I'd decided to look through the boys dorm while Draco, and most of the other Slytherins were in Divination. That way it'd be far less likely that I'd be interrupted.

I sighed and turned to Theo's bed, glancing around in paranoia before dropping to my knees and peeking under the bed. I squinted to try and see under the bed but couldn't. so I stuck my head under the bed to see better. I had just grasped at what I was hoping was a two-way mirror, and not just a regular one, when I heard someone out in the hallway. I felt myself panic as I flung myself out from under Theo's bed and onto Draco, smacking my bed off of the bed frame in the process. I felt my eyes water from the impact but blinked them back and tried to look casual as Theo enter the room. I slipped the mirror into my robe pocket before he had a chance to see me on Draco's bed.

"Lexi Conrad. What are you doing in the boys' dorm during your free period?" Theo asked as he set his bag down and loosened his tie.

"Waiting for Draco, of course." I replied easily.

"Draco, who has Divination and then Quidditch? You're going to be waiting for a while." Theo smirked. "Now, what were you really doing in here?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Are you suggesting that I'm lying?"

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting." Theo dug through his bag, uplling his books out one by one and setting them on his desk.

I scoffed, "What else would I be doing here except waiting for Draco? I certainly wasn't waiting for _you_."

Theo continued to smirk, "If only I could be so lucky." I furrowed my brow in confusion but he continued, "Now if I were to guess what you were doing here, going by the fact that you looked like a child caught stealing cookies when I walked in ehre I would say you were up to no good."

"What would you know about being good, Nott?" I shot back.

"Not much, granted." Theo grinned, "So, did you find anything good?"

I rolled my eyes, "What are you talking about?"

"The reason you're up here. Though I don't know why you're looking through a bunch of boys' things." Theo paused, "Who's things were you looking through?"

"The only person in this dorm I'd have any stake in is Draco, so clearly…"

"But you wouldn't have to go through Draco's things. Anything you want he'd give to you." Theo pointed out.

I narrowed my eyes, "I don't know that I like what you're implying."

Theo smirked, "Is there something to be impled?"

"No. Draco and I are friends."

Theo sighed, "Depressing. Even Malfoy would be better than Weasley."

"Excuse me? You don't even know George." I snapped.

"You could do so much better Lexi, don't you see?" Theo paused, clearing his throat, "It's just, he's never going to appreciate how brilliant you can be."

"And who would appreciate my brilliance that is better than George? You?" I scoffed, joking. There was a long pause as Theo's cool demeanor slipped for once and his eyes shifted back and forth. My eyes widened.

"I would be better for you." He said quietly.

My mouth hung open, "_What_? You—you what? You think, you and I, I—_what_?"

"Lexi can't you see?" Theo moved closer to Draco's bed. I huddled myself in a corner. "You and I, we'd complement each other perfectly."

"No way!" I was still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Theodore Nott had feelings for me.

"You are everything a pureblood Slytherin could hope to be. Our looks and equal intelligence as well as I clearly superior bloodlines make us a force to be reckoned with independently, but imagine if we were together, Lexi. We would be the envy of every family in Britain."

My head spun as I replied, "You are barking mad if you think that I feel the same way. You've been awful to me all year Theo!"

"Have I, Lexi? Have I really done anything that wasn't for your own good in the long run?"

"Are you joking? You told my mum about George, you've been mercilessly trying to break my spirit in an attempt to get me to join the Dark Lord, you-"

"All of which was done to try and ensure that you'd return to where you belong, Lexi. You belong with us."/

Realization dawned on me, "Is that why you're doing this? Why you're trying so hard to convince me to return to my parents? Do you think that if I went back it would give you a chance?"

"The only thing standing between us being together, Lexi, is that wretched blood-traitor boyfriend of yours." Theo snarled.

"_The only thing_? You really are crazy! Even if I weren't with George, _I don't support Voldemort_!" I declared finally.

"You did before! And even if you hadn't, you were willing to turn a blind eye to it." Theo sighed, "Alexis, I have no interest in the minutia of a seemingly endless war, or its reasons for going on. The Dark Lord made me an offer I couldn't bear to refuse."

"And what was that?" I stood, "What did you want so badly that you would join a murdering lunatic?"

Theo swept over to me and grabbed my wrists, "_You_. I wanted you, I want you. And Lexi, I know you. Your true colors will show soon enough, and when they do, I'll be waiting."

"You're going to be waiting a while, then." I yanked my arms out of his grip. "I'm happy with George, Nott."

"Yes, but for how long?" He smirked, "At the end of the day, they're all the same, even him. They've got a cookie cutter mold of what's good and what's not, and I think you and I both know you could never fill it. I, on the other hand, would accept you just as you are."

I fumed, "I'm not interested, Nott."

"Really?" He grinned, "Then why are you still here, Lexi? Why are you still speaking with me? Why do you always speak to me? For someone who considers us enemies, we certainly have a lot of civil conversations. And why haven't you told George about me telling your mum yet? Why hasn't he asked? George isn't here for you, Lexi, but I always am." He paused, "And whether you know it or not you replace him with me when he can't be here."

I took a shaky breath, "That is _not_ true." Theo touched my face and I flinched away.

"But it is true, Lexi. It's nothing to be ashamed of. We'd be so good together." He whispered, moving to embrace me. I finally snapped out of my stupor and shoved him away.

"Don't _touch_ me." I hissed, "Don't touch me, don't speak to me, don't even look at me. Whatever sick fantasy you have in your head of me ever returning your feelings, kill it now, because it will _never_ happen. You sicken me." I hurried out of the room, completely forgetting the mirror in my pocket.

I flew through the Common Room up to my dorm, locking the door behind me. I sighed and closed my eyes.

I was still revolted at Theo's confession, but more than that I was angry, disturbed, and confused. Theo had raised some good questions in trying to convince me of my own feelings.

Why did I always allow him to engage me in conversation? I had always thought it was because I enjoyed the feeling of outsmarting Theo, and he was one fo the few people I could argue back and forth with evenly.

I shook my head. The fact was, I felt nothing for Theodore Nott. We both knew it, but Theo was good at making people question even their own thoughts and feelings. Granger may have had the best grades in the school, but Theo was definitely the most intelligent and cunning.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the mirror, thankful that he had at least given me a reason to leave quickly without it looking suspicious. I stuffed the mirror in my bag, determined to give it to Dumbledore the first chance I got.

I sighed, wanting nothing more than to crawl into my bed and rest after such a stressful conversation, but I had promised Draco I'd meet him for dinner and to do our homework in the library afterwards.

I certainly had a lot to tell him.

* * *

"He what?" Draco growled. I had just finished telling him about my conversation with Theo in their dorm, and he wasn't pleased, to say the least.

"It makes sense though." Blaise said thoughtfully, "All this time we were wondering why Theo agreed to go along with whatever Somers has got planned, and now we know, right? He did it in the hopes of getting to you, Lex."

I shuddered. "I'm hardly reason enough for someone to become a Death Eater. He's clearly demented."

"They say there's a fine line between genius and insanity." Draco quoted. I rolled me eyes.

"So we've now established that we're dealing with three unhinged Slytherins."

"Two of which have an unhealthy fascination with you." Blaise reminded.

I groaned, "I nearly forgot about Daphne's vendetta. I—wait! That's why Theo never let her hurt me!" I gazed in surprise at Draco and Blaise, "I mean clearly he never made it seem like that was his motive but as long as he was around they never laid a finger on me."

Blaise frowned, "Interesting. However, I feel like neither Daphne nor Damien knows about Theo's infatuation with you."

I squirmed, "Eugh, stop mentioning it Blaise!"

Draco snickered. I was embarrassed.

As usual.

* * *

Although it seemed like a big deal to me, Theo's impromptu admission went unnoticed by mostly everyone. Astoria and Blaise got a good laugh out of it, and Draco was even more protective of me than he had been before, but other than that his feelings were largely ignored.

That is, until the following Saturday when, as a Muggle would say, the 'shit hit the fan'.

I had been planning on sleeping in and enjoying the rare Saturday that wasn't piled up with homework and NEWT revisions. However, my plans were interrupted by a loud _CRACK!_ that woke me up before the sun had even started streaming through the windows.

"What the he—" I struggled as I felt a pressure on my legs. A small squeak sounded as I shoved whatever it was off of me and against the wall.

"Miss, Miss, please!" A voice said, a voice that I recognized.

"Dobby?" I said in disbelief, "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

Last I'd seen Dobby was the summer before my second year. He used to be one of the Malfoy's primary elves, and Draco and I used to make him come and fetch us from the hedge maze when we would get hopelessly lost. Then, of course, Harry Potter had tricked Lucius into freeing Dobby, and I hadn't seen nor heard of him since.

Which begged the question: What was he doing on my bed at 6 in the morning on a Saturday?

"Dobby is to get Miss, yes, get Miss now!" Dobby squeaked, "Harry Potter is saying Dobby is to get Miss and to tell her her Wheezy is back!"

"My what now?" I paused, "My wheezing? Dobby, wait, are you saying I wheeze in my sleep?"

"No Miss Lexi, you is not wheezing, but your Wheezy is returned! Harry Potter said you would wants to see your Wheezy before he left again, he is in the hospital wing, your Wheezy is."

"My Wheezy…. Weasley, do you mean?" My eyes widened as Dobby nodded, "George? George is back, he's here?" Dobby nodded again. I jumped out of bed, frantically trying to get dressed. Dobby sat, watching me with wide eyes.

"Oh, damn!" I exclaimed quietly, rubbing my shoulder since I'd run into my wardrobe. "Oh, I look like a mess…"

"Dobby could helps Miss Lexi if Miss Lexi wishes." Dobby piped up. I smiled and nodded and Dobby snapped his fingers and I looked much more put together than I had previously. I quickly thanked him before throwing on a robe and running off.

I think I made in to the Infirmary in record time. Probably because it was one of the few times I was willingly going there. Either way, I burst into the Hospital Wing, looking around wildly before my eyes settled on George's still frame. I rushed over to him and glanced in worry at the bandages covering the side of his head.

Had he cracked his skull? Did someone curse his brain? What happened?

Madame Pomfrey came over quietly. "Is he, what happened?" I whispered.

"A severing charm, and a dark one at that. There was nothing I could do…" She trailed off. "Luckily it one hit his ear."

I breathed a sigh of relief, but was then horrified, "You mean his ear…?"

"Cut clean off, the poor dear. I did the best I could and managed to get all the traces of Dark Magic off of the skin that had been surrounding the ear."

I looked down at George's peaceful, sleeping face and grabbed his hand, "I'm just thankful it wasn't any worse." I mumbled.

"He should be waking up within the next two hours, you're welcome to stay and wait, if you can be quiet." The healer warned. I nodded and sat down, still clutching his hand.

About an hour or so later I felt George squeeze hand. I bit my lower lip as his eyes opened.

"Lexi…" He shot me a weak smile and I threw myself at him.

"Oh, George!" I showered his face with kisses, "I can't believe you're here! Oh George I'm sorry but I'm so glad you're okay!" George smiled at me and kissed my nose.

"You're sure you want to date an earless ginger?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

I swatted at his arm, "Don't joke, George, you're lucky to be alive. I can't believe this happened. I'm so sorry." I paused, "And of course I still want to be with you, you dolt." I leaned over and pressed my lips against his quickly.

George sighed, "I missed you an awful lot, Conrad."

I squeezed myself onto the small hospital bed with him, "Do you, I mean, can you talk about what happened?"

"Not in any real detail" George ran a hand along where his ear once was. "I just, it all happened so fast, you know? I was lucky to be able to Apparate away in time. Madame Pomfrey said that's why it missed, you know, I was in mid-Apparation." He chuckled, "I told Mum she had to take back every time she scolded Fred and I for Apparting around the house, it was great practice."

"George." I said softly, burying my head in the crook of his neck. Although he was (for the most part) fine and he was clearly right next to me, I couldn't help but be worried and scared for what had already happened.

"It's okay, Lex. I knew the risk when I chose to do this." He grinned, "The worst part isn't even the missing ear, I can still hear out of it, y'know? It's that for once…" He trailed off, looking glum.

"For once…?"

"Fred and I aren't identical anymore." He said sadly. I opened my mouth a few times, unsure of what to say, before finally settling on:

"I'm sure you'll find some way to make it work. A prothestic ear, perhaps?" George chuckled and I smiled in return. And for the first time in a long time, it was my job to cheer George Weasley up, not the other way around.

* * *

A few hours later, it was breakfast time. George was cleared to leave the Infirmary, and I looked up at him hopefully.

"Come to breakfast with me?" I asked. George grinned.

"What, and stare at you from across the Great Hall?" He teased.

"No, stare at me from your seat right next to me." I teased back. He suddenly looked unsure.

"Lexi…"

I held up a hand, "Everyone knows George. Trust me, they only way they'd be more aware of us than they already are is if we snogged on the Professor's table."

George waggled his eyebrows, "Now there's an idea, you saucy minx." I blushed and he pinched my cheek before continuing, "How did that happen?"

I briefly explained the Howler, as well as Theo's involvement in it. George's face darkened.

"Theo Nott, you say his name is?" I nodded and George made a noise in the back of his throat. I decided now was as good a time as any to tell George about Theo's interest in me.

"He uh… it's come to light that the reason he's helping Damien is… uh, my fault, I guess, indirectly." George raised an eyebrow, "He uh... fancies me, I guess. It's pretty weird, I've only just found out about it and I obviously don't feel the same so it's kind of repulsive, but… yeah."

I could see the infamous Weasley temper beginning to flare and suddenly wondered if this was such a good idea, telling George.

"George…"

"Let's go to breakfast." He steered me toward the Great Hall. I sighed.

Breakfast was a tense affair. Not only was everyone staring at George as he sat next to me at the Slytherin table, the hand he kept wrapped around my waist was causing Theo to glance over more often than I would have liked. Then again, George was glaring daggers in Theo's direction so maybe that was what had caught his attention.

Theo eventually left and George got up to follow shortly after. Not wanting him to do anything that would get him into too much trouble, I followed.

"Nott!" George called to him. Theo turned around.

"Weasley." He said coldly.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. I want you to leave Lexi alone." He said firmly.

"What? Afraid of a little competition?" Theo smirked. I gasped in outrage and opened my mouth to say something but George beat me to it.

"I would consider the Giant Squid more competition than you." George advanced on Theo, grabbing him by the robes. "You're making her uncomfortable and unhappy, and she clearly isn't interested."

"She could change her mind." Theo argued.

"If a day ever comes when Lexi doesn't want me with her, I won't burden her with my presence." George said, then growled the next part, "But I'll be damned if I let a slimeball like you get his hands on her."

"And what exactly are you going to do, Weasley?" Theo sneered. "Pull out a bag of magic tricks to scare me with? Will I die of _laughter_?"

"If you touch her, what I do to you won't be considered funny at all, least of all to you." I'd never seen George more serious in his life.

"Is that a threat, Weasley?"

"You're damn right it is, you bloody tosser." George thrust Theo away from him,a nd Theo stumbled into a suit of armor. "Now get out of my sight."

Theo glared at George before his gaze flickered over to me. I scowled at him momentarily before turning to George with a huge grin on my face. I didn't care if Theo were there to see; quite frankly, I hoped that he would.

"That was surprisingly sexy, you know." I closed the distance between us and ran my hand along the side of his face.

"Sexy, huh? What's gotten into you, Lex? You must've missed me terribly." George joked, pulling me closer.

"You have no idea." I murmured before kissing him deeply. We eventually had to pull away to breathe, and I said, "You know, it's still early, and I wasn't planning on doing any homework today…"

"And what were you planning on doing, Miss Conrad?" George asked in a pompous manner.

"Nothing that can't be put off til tomorrow, if someone wanted to stay and spend the day with me…" I trailed off.

George grinned and lifted me off the ground as a husband would his bride. "I think I like that idea." I nestled my head against his chest as he walked us outside.

Not sleeping in was a small price to pay for seeing George, and oen that I was quite willing to pay, in fact.

* * *

Yayyy! So, I hope you guys enjoyed this, there was lot of George in it, I think, anyway, there should be a bit more of him in the next chapter, so please review and I'll do my best once I get back from the beach!

Next chapter will feature: a Quidditch match (yes, I haven't forgotten about those!), some Draco, Halloween, some Daphne, and a whole lot of Astoria's character will be fleshed out! Hooray!


	8. 8: Halloween

Hi guys! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and since you all were so great with your reviews! I know it's been forever but I've been really busy with my real life haha, and I've been struggling with immense writer's block.

**Chapter 8: Halloween**

One of the most infamous holidays in the dungeons was upon Hogwarts. Halloween not only had curiously bad luck (ever since Potter had shown up) but Slytherin House in particular revered the holiday as a reason to get even more mischievous than we normally were.

This year was no different. Oddly enough, Slytherin seemed to ban together as the holiday drew closer, momentarily forgetting the inner conflict that was tearing our house to shreds and remembering a few important pastimes: messing with the other houses and the annual Slytherin Halloween Party.

So while our more oblivious housemates may have put down their proverbial swords in favor of an All Hallows Eve peace treaty, Draco, Blaise and I weren't going to let our guard down. In fact, we were going to use this downtime to our advantage.

"It's the best time to get things done." Draco argued, "The Quidditch match on Halloween has us favored to win against Ravenclaw. If we do win, the party afterwards will be even more outrageous than usual. If we don't…"

I cut in, "Everyone will be so ashamed that they'll drown their sorrows in firewhiskey anyway."

"And that gives us the opportunity to snoop around." Draco finished.

Blaise look unconvinced, "You don't actually think that those three will get drunk enough to actually spill anything, right?"

I smiled, "Theo definitely won't… Daphne, unlikely… but Damien…" I trailed off.

"Damien's enjoying his power a little too much." Draco summed up.

It was true. While the work of whatever task Damien had been set by the Dark Lord was definitely taking its toll, Damien was far too pleased with himself as of late.

"People who aren't used to having power and admiration don't always know how to handle it once they have it." I said simply, adding, "There's no way Damien isn't going to indulge himself, Halloween is one of Slytherin's biggest events of the year, and it's his first Halloween in charge."

Blaise nodded, "So we try and get information out of Damien, all right. What about the other two?"

"Even a drunken Damien won't trust Draco or I, so it'll be our job to distract the other two… hopefully their guards will be down enough to make it easy, but we're more than a match for them." I answered.

"Who's going for who in all of this?" Blaise asked, "You're taking a risk with either of them, Lex."

I glanced at Draco. It was true. Both Theo and Daphne were dangerous to me, but for different reasons.

"I'm not sure. Theo wouldn't do anything to harm me, physically anyway, but he's more cunning than any of us realizes. Daphne I could outwit anyday, but I can't promise it won't turn into a duel with her."

Draco thought for a moment, "To be honest, I'm more worried about Daphne's psychotic nature than Theo's infatuation with you."

"I'm not afraid of Daphne. Theo knows I won't seek him out without reason. You, on the other hand, could be playing the part of the over-protective best friend."

Draco nodded, "Who's going after Damien, then, if you and I are otherwise occupied?"

I smirked, "Someone close enough to those three that it won't arouse suspicion for her to be talking to Damien. After all, her family is known for their ambition." I glanced across the Common Room, Draco and Blaise following my gaze.

"Astoria?" Draco whispered skeptically. I glanced over at him.

"Astoria's a very pretty girl, and Damien's foolish enough to believe someone like her could _actually_ be interested in him." I pointed out. Draco continued to look disgruntled. "What, Draco, do you not think she's up to it?"

Draco scoffed, "Well it's not like I'm going to offer myself to cuddle up to Somers, but does she really know what she's getting herself into?"

I smiled, "Which is why Blaise will be here, keeping an eye on her, to make sure nothing bad happens." Blaise nodded, and I felt confident that something of worth would emerge.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with the beloved Headmaster." I muttered. I was planning on telling Dumbledore about Theo's near-admission of guilt, as well as my plan to use Astoria to try and gain Damien's confidence.

"What do you mean, it's not enough?" I hissed. "Theo nearly admitted that he was working for Voldemort, he admitted he did it for me, to get to me!"

"If I expelled every student who claimed they were working for someone with power, be it Voldemort or the Minister himself, I'd have a good size of the students gone." Dumbledore said gently, "While you and I have no doubt that Mr. Nott is serious about his claims, without the proper proof I cannot confront him without facing the opposition of the school board and parents alike."

I groaned in frustration, "Why can't you just have a school wide search, check everyone's arm for the Dark Mark or something?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "If only it were that easy. Not only would some of the more intelligent, and therefore more dangerous, supporters find a way to hide the Mark, but I, even as headmaster, cannot invade the privacy of my students in such a way without just cause. It would look far too accusatory, even to search everyone to weed out a few."

"But it's almost as if we have to wait for them to make a move, and by then who knows what kind of damage they'll have caused!" I argued.

"We can only hope to reach them before they make an irreversible decision." Dumbledore said firmly.

"Irreversible… Getting the Dark Mark is pretty irreversible, that thing doesn't just wash off." I paused, "Professor, I thought the point of this was to remove the danger from the castle…" I hesitated, "But now it's sounding more like you think… that there's a chance to sway them to your side?"

"I do not believe Misters Nott and Somers, or Miss Greengrass to be a monster." Dumbledore answered. I raised my eyebrows.

"Pardon me Professor, but Damien's drunk with power, and will do whatever is asked of him to keep it. Theo doesn't care who he hurts in order to get what he wants, and Daphne is probably certifiably insane." I said bluntly.

"It is not our mission to condemn those that have, as of yet, done nothing. Until they act with malicious intent and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are truly unable to be saved, they will always be welcome at Hogwarts."

"You think they can redeem themselves." I said in disbelief.

"I have faith that there is good inside of them. It was not so long ago, Miss Conrad, that you yourself needed someone to believe in your goodness, and I was not there as I should have been. I won't make the same mistake twice."

I sputtered, "That's completely different! I—they—so what am I supposed to _do_?"

"Be vigilant in your observation. But keep in mind that with the right encouragement, even the darkest of souls can see the light."

I shook my head, "Professor, I will keep trying to prove their guilt, but you can't make me believe in them. This is war, and not everyone is good. You can't save them all, no matter how much you may want to."

Dumbledore nodded, "But Miss Conrad, if we did not try, how different would we be from Voldemort?" It was then that I realized just how old Dumbledore looked. I shrugged.

"I don't have an answer for you, Headmaster."

* * *

"If Dumbledore isn't going to get rid of them, then it's even more important that we find out what they're up to. Simply goading them into acting out won't work, we need to use all of our cunning to get to the bottom of this and stop them before they start whatever it is they're planning." I decided.

"Dumbledore is a fool if he thinks he can get them to change their allegiance." Draco spat. Astoria rolled her eyes.

"Dumbledore can't offer my sister the kind of power she's after; she's not going to let that dream die easily."

"You know how much stock the headmaster puts into the power of love." Blaise shrugged.

I bit my lower lip, "_Love_ isn't going to save this castle from whatever Voldemort is planning." I threw my hands up in frustration, "All of this nobleness is going to get us all killed!"

"We have to do something." Draco agreed. I drummed my fingers against the table.

"The plan changes, then. Astoria still goes for Damien," I glanced at her, "Do whatever necessary short of snogging him to get some kind of hint of what's going on. Even if it's just a relative timeframe, _anything_ we can know the better." Draco made a strangled noise in the back of his throat.

"I hardly think it should come to _snogging_ him!" He exclaimed. Blaise, Astoria and I all stared.

"That's your solution for everything though, isn't it Draco?" Astoria asked sweetly. I shook my head.

"Moving on… I'll handle Theo. He's more liable to give me information than you, Draco, and we don't want anyone getting into fights."

"I don't want you near him alone." Draco crossed his arms.

"I won't be. You'll be there, watching."

Blaise leaned forward, "That's all well and good, but if I'm watching out for Astoria, and Draco's watching out for you, who's distracting Daphne?"

I glanced around the table, "She's too much of a liability, I think."

"She needs to be removed from the equation, at least for the night." Astoria agreed.

"All right, but how?" Draco asked, "It can't point to any of us, and ideally would happen before Halloween."

"So we need something untraceable with the power to knock Daphne out of commission for more than 24 hours?" Blaise asked.

"We don't have the time to research and find a potion or spell that can do that and make it look like natural causes." Astoria pointed out.

"Which means we need to find someone who would already know of such a spell or potion." I finished. Draco and I look at each other and I knew we were thinking the same thing.

This was not going to be fun.

* * *

"Look, just because you're helping Harry ferret out the underage Death Eaters doesn't mean that I'm going to give you a potentially dangerous potion without knowing the reason for it." Granger continued writing her essay.

"Merlin, Granger, you are so infuriating! Like I told you, no one will get seriously hurt. We just need to get someone out of the way, preferably on bed-rest being watched by Madame Pomfrey, for two or three days." I rolled my eyes, "I'm not asking you to commit murder or anything."

"No, you're only asking me to assist in poisoning a fellow student!" Granger hissed, glaring at me.

"Look, whether you like it or not, we _are_ on the same side. There aren't enough resources for my friends and I to go after Damien, Theo, and Daphne at once. We need to divide and conquer and if Daphne isn't out of the picture it could turn ugly, very fast." I paused, "As much as I may have tortured you in the past, Granger, you know Daphne's far worse. She actually enjoys causing people pain."

Granger hesitated, "I don't know…."

"We need to stop them." I implored, "They're working for Voldemort. They will not hesitate to hurt the innocent students in this castle. I need you to help me."

Granger sighed, "When do you need it by?"

I silently cheered, "A few days before Halloween."

"I can make something that will make her sick, sick enough to need to go to the Hospital Wing, for three days. It should be virtually untraceable, since Madame Pomfrey doesn't usually check for potions when someone has flu-like symptoms."

"Excellent. Just make sure I have it before lunch on the 29th. How long will it take to affect her?"

"Only a few hours after you put it into her food. No one should suspect it has anything to do with getting her away from your Halloween celebration." Granger paused, "Speaking of which, you should let Malfoy know that as a prefect—"

I cut her off by standing up, smirking as I said "It's been a pleasure Granger, but I really have to run. I'll be sure to let Draco know that you're less than pleased with our annual night of debauchery."

* * *

It was lunchtime, the day that Granger was supposed to ensure that Daphne's food was laced with the potion. Harry had told me the day before that getting it to her food would be easy enough for him-apparently he was very popular in the kitchens, and the house elves didn't mind doing the dirty work of the Boy-Who-Lived.

I was sitting at the end of the Slytherin table with Draco when Potter came through the Great Hall doors. We made eye contact and he nodded almost imperceptibly, and I shot him a small smile before turning back to my meal.

"I can't believe Granger agreed to do something so… morally ambiguous." Draco smirked.

"Ambiguous? She's probably breaking a dozen school rules. If I hadn't needed her annoyingly large brain I would've had her admitted to Mungo's since she's clearly lost her mind." I glanced over to see Daphne talking to Damien and Pansy about something while enjoying her soup.

"At least we'll have a break from her for a few days." Draco followed my gaze. I nodded.

It was in Potions class that Daphne first started to appear ill. Whatever she was feeling probably wasn't helped by the potion fumes that were filling the room, and she appeared pale and sweaty.

"Daphne?" Blaise asked from his place next to her, "You all right?" Daphne shook her head and blinked.

"I .. my head just feels a little strange. Must be the fumes. Professor, may I go to the restroom?" Snape nodded and Daphne quickly left the room. I tried to hide my grin.

"She's in the hospital wing." Astoria stopped me outside of the Great Hall. "Pomfrey says she has to stay until at least Monday morning."

I nodded. The Quidditch match was Saturday and the party would be that night, so it should give us plenty of opportunity. "Does she suspect anything?"

Astoria shook her head, "Not at all. She's more annoyed than anything, she thinks it was something she ate."

I smirked, "Well, it was." Just not what she was thinking.

Astoria smiled, "I can't say I felt any type of sympathy for her at all."

I gasped in mock outrage, "But Astoria, she's your sister!"

"Shut it, Lexi."

* * *

"I want in."

I glanced up from my work to see Potter standing over me. "In… where?"

"In. In on your plan for Halloween!" He pulled a chair out from under the table and sat across from me.

I raised an eyebrow. "…Why?"

"I just… I want to help."

I smirked, "Is this because of your hero thing?"

Potter frowned, "I do _not_ have a _hero thing_!"

I looked at him pointedly.

He rolled his eyes, "I don't mean to, anyway. It just happens!" He paused, "Either way I just feel like I should be doing something. You, Draco, Blaise, you're all helping…"

I grinned, "Oh-o! So you don't like a Slytherin out-hero-ing you, eh?"

Potter sputtered, "That- completely irrelevant!"

I giggled, I was having _way_ too much fun with this.

"Well…" I drummed my fingers against the table. "I don't really know what you could do… You can't exactly gather information, and Draco and Blaise already have guard duty covered."

"I'll guard." Potter chimed in, "Besides, it might be good to have more than one set of ears listening in."

I hesitated, "Potter, I'm going to be busy trying to interrogate Theo. I don't have time to babysit you and Draco."

"I have an invisibility cloak we can use." Potter continued. "I can deal with Malfoy, I've done it for the past 6 years. We're on the same side, Lexi. Let me help you."

I wanted to point out that this plan was madness, that Potter's presence was not needed, and that his method of "dealing with" Draco was not always known to be the most peaceful. Instead I just shook my head.

"Potter, so many things could go wrong by having you there…" I sighed, "You can come. _But_ stay away from my housemates, stay in a corner, don't touch anyone, and Merlin help you if you decide to bring the rest of the Golden Trio along because I will feed you to the dogs."

"Don't you mean the snakes?" Potter grinned.

I shook my head. "Potter, we may be on the same side but that doesn't mean I'm going to laugh at your horrible jokes."

Draco was _not_ going to be happy.

* * *

"Ready?" I smoothed down my robes and glanced in the mirror, making eye contact with Draco who was standing behind me.

"Ready? Will I ever be ready for a night under a cloak with Potter?" Draco sneered. I smiled.

"I am sorry Draco, but his cloak is a valuable asset. It'll make you totally invisible, not just disillusioned like we were planning. We need every resource available. I am never going to underestimate Theo again."

Draco hummed under his breath, "If it keeps you safe…"

I fixed his robes, "Thank you. Hopefully Potter won't be too insufferable, but do _try_ to keep from killing him."

Draco scowled, "Can't really kill the bloody Boy-Who-Lived, can I? I've got as much riding on him as the rest of the world."

I nodded, "That part does get annoying, doesn't it?"

Draco linked my arm through his, "You've got _no _idea."

We walked downstairs to see some of the 5th years setting up for the festivities. The party usually began right after dinner. Draco and I left the Common Room, but instead of heading towards the Great Hall right away, we headed to the seventh floor, and entered the door that had appeared there. We walked in and saw the Golden Trio already waiting for us.

Draco commented, "There is just something so wrong about meeting with them and not dueling."

Weasley groaned, "Never thought I'd agree with a Malfoy."

Granger snapped, "Honestly, you both are behaving like children. If we're going to work together, we need to at least be civil."

Potter nodded in agreement and they both looked at me. "What?" I asked, "I can't control Draco." I shrugged.

"Scared, Potter?" Draco smirked.

"You wish, Malfoy."

"_Anyway!_" Granger interrupted. "I've got some things that may be of some use." She pulled out her wand, and I eyed it warily, "Oh, please, I'm not going to hex you!"

"Well, history tends to indicate…" I shrugged once again and Draco snickered.

Granger glared at me, "_As_ I was saying, you're going to need your wits about you tonight, so I've taught Harry a few charms that may help."

"Like what?"

Granger then proceeded to pull a bottle of Firewhiskey out of her bag.

"Where did Granger get _Firewhiskey_?" I asked, as Draco said, "Trying to get us drunk, eh Granger?"

She rolled her eyes. "Observe. Although I know-and disagree with, mind you-of the copious amounts of alcohol your house will be consuming tonight, _you_ can't drink Lexi, not if you're going to be talking to Nott."

I nodded in agreement, gesturing for her to continue.

"Well, I just, I figured it'd look rather _odd_ if you didn't drink, especially if you expect him to." She paused, "So, Harry, if you will."

"Aquius." Potter waved his wand at the bottle, which was seemingly unchanged. Granger then held the bottle out to Draco and myself.

"Go on then, try it."

Draco and I stared at each other, and after a moment he snatched the bottle and took a swig. His eyes widened, "It's water."

I took the bottle from him and also tasted it. He was right; though it still looked like firewhiskey, it was definitely water.

"Hate to say it, Granger, but that's pretty brilliant. One problem though, Har-_Potter_ can't cast the spell at every drink I have." I pointed out.

"_Harry_ has learnt to cast the spell silently." Granger said proudly. I rolled my eyes but had to admit it was a good idea.

"All right. Here's the plan: Potter, you'll need to make sure to leave dinner before we do, and be in the hallway with your cloak. We're going to try to leave early enough that we're some of the first people there, that way it'll be less likely that you'll bump into anyone; it gets pretty crowded in there." I ignored the sniff of disapproval Granger made. "Draco will join you wherever you're at once it gets crowded enough for his absence to go unnoticed. Hopefully by then Astoria will be talking to Damien, and I'll be able to get closer to Theo." I explained.

"Not _too_ close." Weasley warned. I looked at him incredulously, "George is my brother, Conrad!"

I rolled my eyes, "Maybe you aren't used to it, but I actually have standards. Theo is _no_ threat to my relationship with George." I glanced back towards Granger, "Are we done here?"

She nodded, then hesitated, "Erm, good luck."

Draco and I sped out of there as fast as possible.

Civility between us and the Golden Trio? Too weird.

* * *

The party was well underway, and things seemed to be going according to plan. Draco and Potter were nearby, I was assuming, and Astoria seemed to be doing a good job of keeping Damien entertained, and constantly supplied with some type of liquor.

I glanced around, searching for Theo, who had yet to show up. Predictably, my housemates were so drunk that they forgot they were supposed to be shunning me.

"Looking for someone?" A voice said directly behind me I spun around and scowled at Theo, who was holding out a drink. "Drink?"

I looked at him with distaste, "My mother always told me not to take drinks from strange men."

Theo smiled dropped a bit, "You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. But if it makes you feel better…" He held out his own drink to me. I shrugged, taking it.

"To Slytherin completely destroying Ravenclaw, then?" Theo asked. We toasted and I took a sip, trying to make it seem like it had a taste to it.

"Good?" Theo asked. I nodded. "Where's your bodyguard?" He asked.

I shrugged. Probably somewhere behind Theo. I answered, "I don't need a bodyguard, and Draco is free to do whatever he pleases. He _did_ win the game for us, in case you didn't notice."

"Quidditch isn't really my _thing_." Theo replied. "I'm surprised you're talking to me, Lex."

I rolled my eyes at the nickname, "I'm feeling charitable."

"Or lonely."

"You wish." I spat back, and moved to leave.

"Lexi, stop." Theo grabbed my arm. "Let's just have a civil conversation. My feelings will be irrelevant."

I narrowed my eyes at him, suspicious. "And why would I want to talk to you, Theo?"

He smirked, "You haven't left yet. Come on, sit with me." He gestured to a table in the corner. I pretended to debate for a moment before sighing. I didn't want him to think I was too eager to talk to him.

"_Only_ because you got me a drink." I emphasized as I sat down.

Theo just nodded. "So, how is your ginger boy toy?"

I frowned, "Theo…."

He shrugged innocently, "I'm asking as a _friend_, Lexi."

"We're not _friends_, Theo." I shot back, "But, if you must know, George is great."

"How sweet." He replied, "I'm surprised he isn't too busy fighting the good fight to trouble with a girlfriend still in school."

I scowled, "What are you talking about?"

Theo rolled his eyes, "Lexi, don't play dumb. _Everyone _ knows the Weasleys are members of that ridiculous Order of Dumbledore's."

"George and I don't talk about that, so no, I wouldn't know." I lied, "Besides, why do you care what side he's on?"

Theo laughed, "I don't _care_, Lexi. The side he's on is fact. And I can't see him not caring about your opinion on the war."

"I don't have one. War isn't really my _thing" _I mocked him.

"I don't know that war is really anyone's thing, Lex. But you can't possibly think that you won't have to choose a side."

"Have you?" I asked.

Theo smiled, "Why does it always come back to this, Lexi? You know what I'm really after. Anything other than that is meaningless." He motioned to a younger student to refill our drinks. I sipped mine slowly; making sure the charm Potter cast had worked.

"People don't choose sides in a war based on some fleeting infatuation." I pointed out.

"Helen of Troy had a war fought over her." Theo countered, "And you're assuming my feelings for you are less than genuine."

"Up until a week ago I didn't know they existed." I replied.

"You should have. I was fairly obviously, Alexis."

I rolled my eyes as he used my full name. "How do you expect to get…" I paused, …what you want?"

"You mean you?" He ignored my blush. "You can say it, Lexi. I certainly will. I want to be with you."

"I don't feel the same way." I cut in.

"Not yet." He learned back in his chair. "I'm confident you'll realize soon enough."

"Realize what?"

"We're perfect together, Lexi."

I laughed, "Theo, you're crazy. How can you even say that? Much less, why would I ever want to be with someone who is willing to side with a lunatic, all in a desperate and misguided attempt to get to me?"

Theo leaned forward, his face close to mine. "You are beautiful, and intelligent, and clever and ambitious, and graceful and absolutely exquisite. We would be unstoppable. We're more alike than you'd think."

"I am nothing like you." I tried to hide my reaction to his words. Theo was creepy and his advances were unwanted, but his words were flattering no matter who was saying them.

"Weasley has no idea what you truly are, and the potential you have. He'll never appreciate every aspect of you. I _would_. I would understand you perfectly." Theo insisted.

"George loves me. And I love him." I ignored the anger in Theo's eyes at my words. "Nott, I don't know what you think you know about me, but you don't know the first thing about me."

"Really?" Theo smirked, "Damien told me a rather funny story about you, Lexi. It seems when he was trying to convince you to return to your parents, something strange happened."

I froze. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Quite a strange talent you have, Lexi." Theo smiled, "It's something you should be proud of."

I stared at him, "I told you, you're mistaken."

"Lexi, it's nothing to be ashamed of or try to hide. You've got incredible power and potential. You have the ability to channel your magic in ways that some wizards can only dream of."

"But I _shouldn't_." I hissed.

"You parents wanted to give you the chance to be something incredible."

"My parents wanted to _use_ me. They had no right." I argued back.

"Does anyone else even know, Lexi? Is it fair that you have to keep this hidden? This gift is a part of you." Theo persisted.

"It isn't a gift, Theo! A gift is something given to you for _free_, this could kill me!" I exclaimed, momentarily losing my cool.

"We could find a way around it, I'm sure." He replied.

"There is no _we!_" I insisted, adding, "And what could you possibly know…" I paused, narrowing my eyes. "What _do_ you know?"

"I know that together, you and I would be virtually unstoppable. I know I'm intelligent enough to find a way to get around whatever problem using your magic in such a way would give you."

I shook my head. The only way Theo could be so knowledgeable about magic as dark as this was if… "…What did they do to you, Theo?"

"They gave me what I needed, and took away what I didn't." Theo stood, "I see everything you're capable of Lexi, and you can't just throw that all away. Think about it."

As Theo walked away, my head couldn't stop spinning. Though I hadn't been drinking, it certainly felt like it. I stood quickly and bolted from the Common Room, hoping Draco and Potter would follow after me.

I stopped moving eventually and leaned against the wall. Draco appeared moments later, Potter standing behind him.

"Lexi." I looked up at him. "What was he talking about, Lexi?" I looked down.

"His parents… they did something to him… just like my parents did to me." I answered.

But what had they done?

* * *

Weee finally done! My office job allows for a lot of free time and I am getting inspired again, so hopefully I will update again in a week or so.

Next chapter will have some George!

I really do enjoy writing Theo though. He is a total creep but he's super fun to write. Eek!

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed!


	9. 9: Mirrors and Knockturn Alley

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the reviews And I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Unlike my usual time lapses between chapters, this one starts off right where the last one left off! I thought it'd be good for Lexi to explain some things to Draco and Harry.

Oh and I know I said there would be George in this chapter but things just happened and there isn't as much as I planned! I'm sorry! This chapter and the next are going to be more action-oriented and advance the plot more, but there will eventually be more of a focus on Lexi's social life as opposed to war things =P

**Chapter 9: Mirrors and Knockturn Alley**

Draco and Potter ushered me into an unused classroom. I sat motionless for a few moments until Draco waved his hand in front of my face, "Lexi! Lex! What is going on? What was he talking about? What did your parents do? Did they hurt you?"

I shook my head, glancing up at them. "No one... is supposed to know. _How did he_ …?"

"Lexi, you can trust me." Draco glanced up at Potter.

Potter nodded, "Lexi, I swear no one will hear about this."

"It's hard to explain… around a year ago I'd noticed something… strange, that I could do." I explained about the ink pot, and my subsequent (and incorrect) theory on why it happened.

"But then this year, it happened again, when Damien was trying to convince me to return home to my parents. I stopped _him._ I knew something was… this was bigger than just some silly skill. I went to Dumbledore and he—he told me my _parents,_ they did this to me. I can do incredible things, outside of the scope of ordinary magic. We don't know what the limit is; really, mostly Dumbledore believes it has to do with physical manipulation of an object or space."

"How is that dangerous? I mean, I get that Voldemort knowing about it would put you in danger, but how would it kill you on its own?" Potter asked.

Draco answered him before I had a chance, "The only magic powerful enough to enhance someone's abilities to that extent would be extremely dark. And with dark magic, you never get something for nothing."

"Dumbledore said the price for such power is a shortened lifespan" I replied dully, "People with that kind of power aren't meant to last forever. That's why I can't use my powers, if I were to use them in an extreme way it could literally drain the life out of me."

Draco paled, "Lexi… how did Theo find out?"

"The things he said… his parents did something similar to him, I know it. He said '_they gave me what I needed and took away what I didn't'_." I shook my head, "But what did they give him?"

"And at what price…" Draco murmured.

"Draco. Err, Malfoy…" Potter trailed off. "D'you think your parents…?"

Draco looked startled, "I don't think, to my knowledge, they didn't."

I shook my head, "I bet not. Lucius might've if he could get away with it, but Narcissa _loves_ you Draco, truly. She'd never want to risk your life or happiness in such a way. She thinks of you as more than just a weapon or a tool to get more power." I finished bitterly.

Draco put his hand on my shoulder, "We'll figure it out, Lexi. We won't tell anyone, and neither will Theo. If he does he doesn't have anything to hold over your head."

Potter nodded, "Plus, he likes you, right? He can't very well get you all to himself if Voldemort wants to use you too."

I nodded. It made sense that Theo would have as much to lose as I by revealing my secret. I certainly wouldn't do him any good if I were dead.

"We need to figure out what his parents did to him." I decided finally. "But how? My parents may have books that discuss magic like that but there's no way for me to access it."

Draco nodded, "The Malfoy library may not even have anything like that, my father kept it pretty clean due to the raids on our manor. What we need is access to a library that is sure to have books with... darker content."

"The Restricted Section?" Potter suggested. I chuckled and looked at him, a light bulb going off in my head.

"No," I shook my head, "Who in Hogwarts would need information like that? Draco's right, we need access to an _old_ library, one sure to have books filled with dark magic, one of the Ancient Families. Draco and I don't have that access anymore, but you do Potter. The Black Library."

"Sirius' library? But-"

"No, not just Sirius' library; the library of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Any library that taught Bellatrix what she knows now is bound to have entire sections devoted to the Dark Arts."

Potter hesitated, "But those books are… well, dark, aren't they?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Potter, we _need_ to know. Before, Theo was just an exemplary wizard. But if he has unnatural qualities, and we can find out what they are, we need to. He's even more dangerous than we thought."

I nodded, "Especially because he doesn't seem to mind whatever price he's paying. He's got nothing to lose, or at least he thinks that way."

Potter nodded, "Can we wait til Christmas break, d'you think? I don't know how we'd get there before then."

I shrugged, "You're right, it'll have to do."

"Should we get Hermione in on this? No one researches like her." Potter pointed out. Draco and I looked at each other.

"She'd be an asset, but _only_ if you think she won't try to stop us. And she only has to know about Theo, not me." I answer. Potter agreed and we decided to call it a night, before our absences were noted.

I walked back into the Common Room with Draco and spotted Astoria, sitting on the couch next to a clearly-inebriated Damien. Draco stiffened next to me as I caught Astoria's eye and nodded quickly towards to staircase. Since Daphne was in the Hospital Wing and the rest of my dorm mates were at the party downstairs, we decided to use my room to talk about the evening's events.

"Merlin, he's annoying." She sighed and threw herself onto my bed. "Even more of a braggart when he's drunk, fortunately."

"Did he say anything worth noting?" I asked, sitting next to her. Draco took a seat at my desk.

Astoria hummed for a moment, "He kept prattling on about things 'changing' at Hogwarts, and that once they did the rest of the school would know why Slytherin was the best house."

"We always knew one of Voldemort's objectives would be to take Hogwarts…" I said thoughtfully, "But if Damien has actually found a way…"

"You mean if Damien's gotten Theo to find a way." Draco cut in darkly.

Astoria was quiet for a moment and then spoke up, "He said… he said when the time came, there wouldn't _be_ any more houses. Just Slytherin. That those who were worthy… _purebloods_… could conform or…"

She didn't have to finish her sentence.

"Madness." I burst out, "He can't _kill_ half the Wizarding population, we'll die out!"

"He said that You-Know-Who knows…" She paused, "He knows all it takes to get obedience is to press the right buttons."

Draco and I looked at each other uncomfortably, and I thought of the lengths Theo would go to get to me, the things Draco would do for his mother, and the things I would do to keep Draco from ever getting hurt again.

And I realized all at once that if Voldemort got any more powerful, if Harry Potter _failed_, that our world would fall to him. Our world wasn't strong enough, or brave enough, to fight against Voldemort and his armies if it meant risking the people closest to us. The value and loyalty that most Pureblood or even Half-Blood families placed on their own far outweighed any moral obligation they felt to right or wrong.

"We _can't_ let the Death Eaters into the castle." I insisted. "If Hogwarts falls, it's only a matter of time until Britain does."

Draco's eyes darkened "That's not necessarily true."

"It is!" I nearly shouted, "If Dumbledore is the only one Voldemort has ever feared, and Hogwarts falls, no one will be safe. Don't you get it? That's the only reason Hogwarts _matters_. Sure, they'll probably spew the Dark Arts and anti-muggleborn propaganda as fact, but it's the victory _over Dumbledore_ that will hurt the most. If Dumbledore fails to keep the school safe from Voldemort, then who can keep anything safe from him?"

I had to help Harry Potter because he was the only person who could help me.

Astoria looked overwhelmed, a look I'm sure was mirrored on my own face. "What can we do?" She asked, looking at the ground.

"I don't... I don't really kn-" I began, but she cut me off.

"Lexi, what's this?" She held up a tiny mirror, one I'd forgotten about over the past few weeks.

My eyes widened. That was something we could try to work with.

* * *

"How long have you had this, Conrad?!" Granger sounded exasperated, and I hated to admit that she had reason to sound that way.

"Calm down Granger, I forgot. There's been a lot going on in the Slytherin dorms. We can't all just twiddle our thumbs waiting for someone else to get something done." I snapped.

"Lexi, Hermione, stop. You guys are supposed to be working _together_." Potter glared at both of us.

"And what exactly are we supposed to do with this?" Granger responded, holding up the mirror.

"Can we figure out who owns the connecting mirror?" Draco asked. Granger shrugged.

"Maybe, but with what spell?"

Draco and I looked at each other. "Well," I said, "We just sort of assumed that since you spend all of your time in the library that you'd know what spell to use."

"I'm not _always_ in the library! I have other hobbies!" Granger exclaimed hotly.

Astoria snorted from next to me, "Like trying to convince the house elves to revolt?"

Granger's eyes narrowed but she continued, "_Ignoring that,_ let me run some basic diagnostic charms. It should tell us what type of magic is linking the mirrors."

Granger waved her wand over the mirror and it glowed purple for a few moments.

"That means it's not just a standard charm. This is unique magic, a combination of things created by the caster…" She frowned.

"Which makes it easier to track." Draco continued.

"Track?" Potter asked. I grinned.

"Of course! I mean, if we can do it…" I paused, then continued to explain, "See, Pureblood families developed an advanced tracking system based off of magical signatures, since it's the one thing that can't be tampered with. It's not used much anymore, but was very necessary back when Pureblood heirs would be kidnapped and ransomed. If we can…"

"If we can somehow copy the magical signature of the mirror itself, not the caster, we can track where similar items are." Draco nodded

"Where other mirrors are!" Astoria finished.

Granger looked somewhat impressed, "And you guys know how to do this?"

Draco and I looked at each other and smiled, "Taught from an early age, fortunately."

"We just need an empty room, a map, and a particular type of sand." Draco added.

Potter looked at Granger and then Weasley, "Room of Requirement?"

The room, luckily, was able to provide exactly what we needed. Draco and I quickly got to work.

"It's a fairly simple incantation, as it was supposed to be commonly used; it's also not really a taxing spell." I explained as Draco and I laid out the map.

"The sand is a variant of Floo Powder, whereas Floo Powder transports the user where they need to go, the sand will collect on the map around the same energies as what we're trying to track. The only problem is that we'll have to work out for ourselves what place the map is pointing to, since obviously people's houses won't be listed on the map, it just points out a location." I finished. Granger handed the mirror over to Draco.

"The spell only holds for about a minute, so Granger, you'll want to mark where on the map the sand collects so we can have it for future reference." Draco warned. Granger nodded and the room generously provided her with a quill and ink.

Draco took the mirror and said a quick incantation, causing a purple glow to arise once again. This time, however, he muttered another incantation and dispelled the purple glow over to the map. The sand rose from where we'd placed it in the four corners of the map and seemed to mix with the glow before swirling around and hovering over 4 locations. Granger quickly marked an 'x' at each location, and after a few moments the sand dropped to the ground. I quickly banished the sand and we took a closer look at the map.

Draco touched an 'x' for a moment, "Northern Scotland, this one is Hogwarts." Granger nodded in agreement and wrote it down on a piece of parchment.

There were two other markings pretty close to one another. "Central London?" I asked.

"Diagon Alley?" Weasley suggested. I looked closer.

"No…." I paused, "Knockturn." We all glanced at each other, wondering who exactly Theo would be communicating with in Knockturn Alley.

"If we went there we could find out exactly which building the signature was coming from." Draco mentioned.

"We wouldn't be able to do that until the holidays…" Granger reminded him.

"Granger, we really don't have that kind of time." I cut in.

Potter interrupted, "Guys… the other London one… I think I know where it is."

"Where?" Granger asked.

"…the Ministry."

There was a beat of silence and then everyone began to talk at once.

"How do you know-?"

"The _Ministry_?"

"Who the bloody hell-!"

"Potter, you're sure?"

"Yes! You guys wouldn't know because you've never taken the visitors entrance, but this street is where the Ministry is located, this is the way I went with your dad, Ron, for my trial." Potter insisted, "Someone in the Ministry has got one of these mirrors, and has been communicating with Nott!"

That was much more worrying than Nott communicating with someone in Knockturn Alley.

"Who… who could it be?" Granger seemed shocked. Draco laughed bitterly.

"There are a lot of people to choose from. Could be one of the Death Eaters that bought their way out of the first war, but it could also be someone new, either helping of their own free will or not."

"The Imperius curse." Potter said softly.

I nodded, "There are just too many possibilities within the Ministry, Draco is right. Even if we went there we couldn't get a specified enough location to figure out who it is. Plus how would we explain 5 Hogwarts students visiting the Ministry?" I paused and glanced at Potter, "Although you lot seem to enjoy breaking into the Ministry after hours, they've probably upped their security since your little excursion last year."

The Golden Trio flushed, and Weasley said, "So Knockturn Alley is our best bet?"

Draco agreed, "When's the next Hogsmeade weekend? We can find a way to London then, I'm sure."

"In a week. George is coming to visit, maybe he'll Apparate us?" I suggested, "Fred could help."

Granger nodded, "We can't all go, though."

"Draco and I will go. We know Knockturn Alley the best, and can probably get out easier if something goes wrong."

"I'm coming too." Potter said. We stared each other down for a few moments and then I conceded.

"_Fine_. But this is _not_ some Boy-Who-Lived, Chosen-One secret mission. We aren't going in, wands blazing, trying to tear the Alley down. We go, find the building, try to figure out who has the mirror, and come back. Simple, information-gathering. _None_ of your hero-complex stuff, Potter, I'm warning you." I waved a finger at him.

Potter looked immensely offended, while Granger stifled a laugh. We glanced at each other for a moment before turning away. Agreeing with Granger still left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

"Hero complex?!" Potter sputtered, "I don't have a-!"

"You kind of do, Harry." Granger said warmly, "But don't worry, it's terribly endearing."

"I'm going to be sick." Draco muttered, and headed for the door. I followed.

Weasley stopped us, "Wait! What about the last place on the map?" Draco and I wandered back over, looking at the 'x' placed in northeast England, north of Aberdeen. I considered it for a moment, and sighed.

"It's my parent's house." I quickly turned and left the room, not needing to wonder why my parents would want to conspire with Theodore Nott.

* * *

Hogsmeade weekend quickly approached and plans were finalized. Draco and I figured no one would really miss us, and Granger and Weasley were in charge of making excuses for Potter's absence. I'd already cleared our plan with George and although he wasn't especially pleased with our idea, agreed to help us by having him and Fred apparate Draco and I. Potter could apparate himself, since he'd had time to go to the Ministry and pass his test over the summer.

The morning of the trip, however, came with bad news in the headlines of the Prophet.

Amelia Bones was dead.

The Great Hall was quiet that morning. Susan Bones was nowhere to be seen. Draco and I poured over the article, looking for anything to link it to Voldemort.

"She was found dead in her office." Draco murmured. "No sign of a struggle."

"The Head of the DMLE isn't someone who would go down without a fight…" I trailed off, "Unless it was someone she knew."

We met with Potter at the end of breakfast, his expression grim.

"You've heard, then?" He asked, seeing our faces. We nodded.

"This isn't a coincidence. Someone, maybe multiple people, in the Ministry are working for Voldemort. This just confirms what we already knew." I insisted.

"The fact that there was no Dark Mark means that he wants to keep a low profile." Draco added.

"But why? Everyone knows he's back." Potter asked. Draco and I looked at each other for a moment, thinking. Potter glanced around and put on his invisibility cloak, motioning for us to go on. It would raise too many questions to see the Boy-Who-Lived walking around with a couple Slytherins.

"Everyone knows the Bones have been a thorn in Voldemort's side since the first war… so it wouldn't be seen as strange for him to go after her. But what if it was something more, and killing her was just an added bonus?" I asked as we walked down to the carriages.

"Something more?" Draco asked. We stepped into a carriage, making sure to leave Potter enough time to step in after us. He took his cloak of momentarily and we sat down.

"Think about it," I continued, "Blaise told us Damien only has until winter holidays to accomplish whatever task Voldemort's given him… there are only a few weeks left until everyone leaves for break. Amelia Bones is not only an incredibly capable witch, but she's one of the best department heads the Ministry has, in that she can't be bribed or corrupted."

"If Voldemort were going to, say, attack Hogwarts…" Potter began

"What better time to do it than when the DMLE has been turned upside down by losing its Head?" Draco finished.

We were all silent for a moment.

"We have to tell Dumbledore." Potter spoke up.

For once, I agreed.

"Hopefully after today we'll have more evidence. We can go after we get back."

Whatever Voldemort had planned for Hogwarts, he was moving his pieces into play. Whatever was going to happen would happen soon.

* * *

"George!" I exclaimed happily as I hugged my boyfriend, grinning at Fred over his shoulder. As I pulled away, I glanced behind me and saw Draco scowling.

"Can we get a move on, already?" He muttered, "We don't know how much time we'll need."

I rolled me eyes, "Shush, Draco, I can enjoy saying hello, can't I?" George grinned and kissed my cheek.

"Yeah Malfoy, Merlin you're no fun." Draco's scowl deepened and I heard a snicker from somewhere near him, and a grunt after his elbow connected with an invisible Potter.

I leaned into George and laughed, "Okay, okay, we'll go." I held tightly to George's arm, Draco did the same with Fred (though neither of them looked too happy about the physical contact) and with a pop, we were on our way.

Diagon Alley was fairly busy, though not as busy as it would've been during the summer months, since students were, theoretically in our case, supposed to be at Hogwarts. For this reason, Draco and I opted to change from our Hogwarts robes into other robes that wouldn't make us seem like school children. Potter opted to stay in Muggle clothing, since he'd be under his cloak anyway. I turned to George and Fred when we were outside of their shop.

"It's 11am. Most people don't head down to Knockturn until the afternoon, preferably the evening. Granger's given Potter -ugh, fine, _Harry_, both a map that will show us the building where the mirror should be located, and a charm that will change color the closer we get to its actual location. Hopefully it'll be as simple as going in, searching a bit, and leaving."

"Why don't you and Malfoy disillusion yourselves?" George asked, not liking the idea of us being in the Alley in the open.

"Most of the businesses in Knockturn, while reputable for keeping the secrets of their patrons, don't like to be unaware of the comings and goings of their business. Charms fail as you pass though the doorway. Cloaks that _aren't_ as well-made as Potter's will also fail to work. Hopefully once we get into the building, we can find a chance to disillusion ourselves, but the likelihood isn't high." I explained.

"If we aren't back by" Draco thought for a moment "2pm, start to worry."

"And by 'start to worry' that means, use your mirror." I looked meaningfully at George. He and Fred nodded and we went our separate ways.

As we made our way into Knockturn Alley, Draco and I put the hoods of our cloaks up. Though the weather wasn't gloomy enough to warrant it, most people put their hoods up when in the alley, so we weren't out of place.

Draco and I went over to one of the stores, staring in the window.

"Hand me the map, Harry." I murmured. I felt a weight in my pocket as the map was placed there discreetly. I glanced at it then up at the buildings surrounding us.

"It's pretty far into the alley, down probably another…. Hundred feet, and off to the left, maybe down a side alley?" I wondered, showing the map to Draco. He nodded and I folded the map, keeping it in my hands as we made our way down the alley, being sure to stop every once in a while to make it look like we were browsing. We eventually came to the point on the map, looking up to see a rickety, three story building. Most of the windows were tightly closed and shuttered, and a dusty sign hanging from the doorway advertised vacancies inside.

"A hotel." Potter asked from between Draco and I.

"Of sorts." I replied. Considering the location, it was more likely to house criminals or other unsavory characters. People who would likely not be too happy with us poking around in their rooms.

"Might as well go in, I guess." Draco opened the door and I went in, leaving time for Potter to come in after me.

The lobby was tiny, cramped, and coated in a layer of dust that suggested it wasn't a place that people hung around usually. The man at the counter looked up as we walked in, and I motioned for Draco to stay where he was.

"Need a room?" The man called to us. I approached, knowing that Draco was much too recognizable, but that my family had few characteristics that set us apart from other families.

"Yes. For two nights. How much?" I kept my voice steady and my answers short

"Ten galleons." The man grinned, "Mostly security purposes, y'see. You'll not find a safer place for you and your lad, girl."

I tried to match his grin with a thin smile of my own. I'd let the man think whatever he wanted, that Draco and I were running away together or something, because the further he was from the truth, the better.

"Room 205, up the stairs, third door on your left" He handed me the key after I gave him the coins. I nodded and we headed up to our room.

Potter had his cloak off as soon as we closed the door. "All right, let's get this figured out. This place gives me the creeps, I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

Draco rolled his eyes, "I thought you were supposed to be brave, Potter? But you're right; Knockturn Alley is dangerous for all three of us."

I nodded, "All right then, have you got the charm?" Potter nodded, "Then let's do this."

"I'll go, the cloak isn't big enough for all of us. I'll be back once I figure out which room it is." Potter said. I nodded but added before he left "Do _not_ try to go into the room without us."

Potter was only gone for five minutes when he returned, "Room 212, let's go."

We decided that since Draco had the most knowledge of detection spells, he'd check the door for any hexes while Potter and I kept watch at either end of the hall. After a few moments Draco motioned for us to follow him into the room.

"Whoever this is, is either incompetent or just didn't expect anyone to come looking for him." Draco said as we closed the door. He quickly placed a charm on the door that would set off an alarm if someone approached.

The room was bare for the most part, with a few pieces of scattered paper on the desk. I picked them up and read over them.

"Nothing of importance… awful handwriting though. Are you sure this is the room, Potter?"

Potter, to his credit, tried not to look too irritated. "Yes! I'm sure, I—" He was cut off by the door glowing red.

"Bollocks. Someone's coming." Draco took the charm off the door and glanced around, "Closet, now!"

The three of us hurried to the closet, Potter throwing the cloak over the three of us while I cast a notice-me-not charm over the area, hoping for the best, leaving the closet's doors open a bit, as they had been. We quickly situated ourselves to see into the room.

The door opened and a short, squat man with balding hair walked in, breathing a sigh of relief as he threw his wand on the bed. I felt Potter tense next to me and glanced at him and Draco.

"Pettigrew." Draco breathed. I glanced at Potter and grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me.

"_NO!_" I mouthed furiously to him. I knew enough about the Dark Lord's followers to know that Potter had a personal vendetta against Pettigrew, but he couldn't give away our position.

"_Why not?!_" Potter was furious.

"He has the mirror, we need to know why!" I said under my breath. I was so busy motioning to Potter that I didn't notice a knock on the door under Draco shook both of us and motioned forward. We watched as Pettigrew answered the door and a massive, savage looking man entered. I held my breath. I didn't need Draco or Potter to tell me who that was.

_Fenrir Greyback._ A werewolf. A werewolf that couldn't see us, but could _smell us_ if he tried hard enough.

I glanced fearfully at Draco and Potter. We were screwed.

"Have you talked to the boy yet, rat?" Greyback snarled. Pettigrew shrank down into himself as he answered.

"S-Somers says the preparations are almost complete. Everything should b-be ready to go by early next week." He squeaked.

Fenrir smirked "Early next week. Our lord will be pleased. Aren't you excited, Pettigrew?"

"E-excited?"

Fenrir smiled almost wistfully, "I can't wait to sink my teeth into some of those brats at the Mudblood-loving school."

I froze at his words. Hogwarts. The thought of Fenrir Greyback loose in the hallways of Hogwarts was enough to make my stomach churn. I felt Potter shift uncomfortably beside me.

"I—I—yes, I am." Pettigrew sounded as terrified as I felt.

Greyback roared in laughter, "Pathetic, Pettigrew. It's the dawn of a new era, embrace it."

"Have to-go get supplies." Pettigrew mumbled. Greyback waved him away and flopped down on the bed.

I looked desperately at Draco and Potter. We were trapped in a closet while one of the most vicious werewolves in recent history lounged on a bed not even 10 feet away.

Potter held his fingers to his lips, before taking a small pouch out of his pocket. I recognized it as one of the twins' products, _Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder_. Draco and I looked at each other and then nodded.

"Make a run for the door. Keep a hold of each other." I whispered. We all tensed, ready to move, as Potter threw the powder out into the room.

Instantly, it was like all the light had been removed from the room. Never before had I seen such total darkness. We could still hear everything, though. Fenrir growled and we heard him getting up from the bed. Abandoning all pretense of being quiet, we rushed towards where we remembered the door being. I heard the sound of it opening and though I couldn't see, could feel the air from the hallway on my face when—

I felt something grab my waist and slam me into a wall. Hands quickly found my throat and squeezed, making me cough as I searched for air. I felt a rush of air as someone banished the darkened air from the room, and opened my eyes, coming face to face with Fenrir Greyback. From the corner of my eye I could see Potter in a similar position to my own, being held by Greyback's other hand. Draco was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, well, well." Greyback kicked the door shut, "What do we have here?" He glanced at Potter, and then me. "Harry Potter and Alexis Conrad, what an unusual duo. What the hell do you think you're—?"

"_Avada Kedavra!_" A bright green jet of light shot out of nowhere, hitting Greyback from behind. He dropped to the floor, releasing Potter and I from his grip. Draco shrugged off Potter's cloak from the other side of the room, looking shaken.

"I didn't know what else to do…." He looked up at me helplessly. I ran over to him.

"It's fine. It's _fine._ He would've killed us, or worse." I insisted. Potter hadn't moved.

"Potter, _Harry_, Draco, we need to _go_! It's fine, he had to! I yanked Draco over to where Potter was standing, "We need to leave before Pettigrew comes back."

"How, what do we do with…?" Potter gestured to Greyback's body, gazing up at the ceiling.

"We have to leave it. We can't… it was an accident. Okay Potter? We don't tell _anyone_. Draco saved our lives, it doesn't matter how." I grabbed the front of his shirt, "Do you understand?"

Potter shook himself out of his thoughts, "I won't. She's right Malfoy, she's right. Thanks. It's just I've never seen, other than with my—"

Other than with his parents. I squeezed his arm, giving him a sympathetic smile, before turning to Draco. "Give me your wand. I've got to erase the spell's echo."

Draco moved to the window, "Wait. We can, we can cover it up."

"How?"

He opened the window. "We have to stop back at our room as soon as we leave here, you can erase the echo there." He pointed his wand out toward the sky.

"_Morsmordre._"

* * *

"Here's the salve. Now, explain how you managed to get away from Fenrir bloody Greyback?" George sat in front of me, another salve in his hand identical to the one he'd handed Potter. He began rubbing it on the area of my neck that Greyback had put too much pressure on, trying to get rid of the bruises.

"Er…" Potter looked at Draco, who looked at me.

I took a breath, "Greyback is dead. He... he died and we ran."

Ran was an understatement. The Alley was thrown into chaos after the Mark shot into the sky. We managed to run into the hotel manager as we were leaving, who understandably didn't find it strange that we would want to leave, as most of the customers were. The chaos actually seemed to work for us, instead of against us, because it was unlikely that in the ensuing rampage anyone took notice of us.

"He's dead?" Fred asked sharply, "How? Who killed him?"

The three of us remained quiet.

"Lexi, we need to know, we need to tell the Order…" George trailed off.

"The Order _can't_ find out. Just… just know that Fenrir Greyback is dead, and-and the Dark Mark went up over the place he was staying in." I locked eyes with George "That's _all_ we know."

George and Fred glanced over at Draco, who was staring at the ground. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Draco was the only person in the room who could possibly know how to cast the Dark Mark.

"Then that's all we'll say. We heard it from someone as they were running out of the Alley." George decided, and in that moment I don't think I'd ever loved him more.

Fred added, "We've got to get you guys back to Hogsmeade, now. Dumbledore will surely call a meeting soon, if he hasn't already."

I nodded and a few moments later, the five of us were back in Hogsmeade. A few moments after that, an announcement was made through the town asking that all students returned to Hogwarts. Draco, Harry and I looked at each other and made our way back to the castle.

* * *

"Are you all right?" I asked Draco later that night, in the Room of Requirement. We were there with the Golden Trio, but they were distracted on the other side of the room.

"I'm fine."

"Thank you for saving my life." I leaned into Draco's side.

"I'd do it all over again." He paused, "Maybe a different spell."

I grabbed his hand, "Killing is killing, and the spell doesn't matter. You did the right thing. The world's a safer place without Greyback in it."

Draco nodded, "It wasn't even a choice, you know, once I realized he had you. I knew the type of man he was."

"He wasn't a man." Potter sat on the other side of me. We looked across the room, where Weasley and Granger were arguing.

"I killed someone." Draco mused.

"Welcome to the club." I joked. Draco squeezed my hand.

"Err, Malfoy… thanks. For doing what you did. I've never, I don't know what it feels like, but…" Potter trailed off awkwardly.

"This is war, Potter. Sooner or later you, all of us, we're all going to have to stop playing with charms and jinxes and disarming and take out the Death Eaters permanently." Draco warned.

Potter nodded. "Yeah." He paused, "Is it hard?"

Draco shrugged, "It's strange. I'm trying not to think about it."

I frowned, "I'd hoped you'd never have to know what it felt like."

Potter sighed, "Unfortunately I don't think it's a choice many of us are going to get to make."

I smiled tiredly at him,"It's almost unfair, isn't it?"

Potter nodded, "None of us asked for this." He stood and walked over to his friends, leaving Draco and I to our thoughts.

No, I mused, none of us had asked to fight our parent's war for them. But we were going to anyway.

The thought depressed me more than I cared to admit.

.

* * *

Oh wow, this chapter is so long! Okay! Wow! Sorry for the length! Hopefully it wasn't too boring, there was just a lot of stuff I had to set up before the end of the chapter and the next chapter.

Also sorry for the wait on updates, I know the general outline of the next 10 or so chapters, but this chapter and the next two are going to be difficult to write because I want to do them justice.

Also, I need to decide whether to up the rating on this story or not. Hmmm.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you liked, disliked, etc (or even just yell at me for taking to long to update!) haha!

-AJ


	10. 10: The Calm and the Storm

Hi! One note before the chapter, there are a few tiny (and not so tiny) details I'll be pulling from the books that you should notice when you see them, but that is mostly because I liked the way it happened in the book in that instance and didn't feel like changing it just for the sake of changing it, but this story is still AU!

**Chapter 10: The Calm and the Storm**

Potter took care of informing Dumbledore about what we'd heard, though we had to try to evade telling him how we got the information in the first place, since we didn't want anyone to know about Draco killing Greyback.

In any case, whether Dumbledore believed us or not, he had to take a threat against his school seriously. And he did. If you weren't watching for it you may not have noticed the tense stance that most of the Professors adopted in the past few days, or the extra attentiveness of the portraits and suits of armor.

I hoped that it would be enough.

Since our journey to Knockturn Alley, mine and Draco's relationship with Potter had changed. Potter had always been friendlier to me than Draco, due to my dating George, but now… it wasn't quite that we were friends with him. But we were something. Draco had saved my life, but he'd also saved Potter's, and I guess that changes things.

Greyback's death hadn't appeared in the Prophet, unsurprisingly, but Potter assured us that Dumbledore was aware of his death.

"He didn't ask too many questions, though." Potter had said when he told us.

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Things had been almost too quiet at the castle. It was as though everyone knew something was coming, even if they didn't know exactly what. Everyone was on edge which didn't make for pleasant hallway altercations between the houses.

"Come on, we're late for dinner" I yanked Draco out of the library that Tuesday evening.

"Dinner can wait, these spells can't." Draco argued. For the past few days, we'd spent every spare moment until curfew in the library research both defensive and offensive spells.

"You won't be prepared for anything if you starve yourself." I countered, "We're going to dinner and that's final."

Draco grumbled but followed me anyway.

The Great Hall was noisy as we pushed the doors open and walked to the other end of the hall where our table was. As we approached, we noticed what the noise hadn't made clear when we'd come in.

Even though dinner had started, there wasn't a single person at the Slytherin table.

I felt my stomach drop as I whipped around, my eyes searching the Gryffindor table. I made eye contact with Granger, who cocked her head in confusion. I motioned toward my empty House table and her eyes widened. She quickly got Potter and Weasley's attention and their grave faces met my own.

"We need to sit, Draco, we can't create a panic." I muttered, trying to convince myself more than him.

We'd almost reached the table when a voice called out, "Draco! Lexi!" We turned and saw Blaise running toward us.

"I've just found out, it's today, it's happening to—"

_BANG!_

The doors to the Great Hall flew off of their hinges. Screams filled the hall as thirty or so Death Eaters came into the hall, about ten holding a student against their chest, wand pressed against them. Those that weren't pointed their wands toward the students and staff.

Draco shoved me behind him as we saw Bellatrix Lestrange at the front of the group. From the corner of my eye I saw Potter, Weasley, Granger, and the other older Gryffindors stand and shield the younger ones from view. Ginny was rounding them up.

"Ah, ah ah!" Bellatrix cackled as she saw the staff standing, wands drawn. "You can't hurt us without hurting your _precious_ students, can you?"

Everyone in the hall froze at these words and I took the opportunity to glance at the students that were being held at wandpoint. They were all fairly young, mostly Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, and I didn't recognize any of them, which made it likely that they were Muggleborn of Halfbloods.

The Death Eaters wouldn't hesitate to kill them all.

"Blaise, where's Astoria? Flora? Tracey?"

"I think most of them stayed willingly in the Common Room once they heard, Astoria didn't want to but her sister stunned her." Blaise replied, not taking his eyes off the advancing group. We moved ourselves away from the Slytherin table and more towards the crowd, pushing our way in front of the younger students. A natural divide was forming, and quickly: the older students were placing themselves between the Death Eaters and the younger students.

"Now, we can do this _easily_ or _not!_" Bellatrix was talking again, her voice sounding decidedly pleased. "Turn the school over to us, surrender, and you'll get your precious students back safe and sound."

Dumbledore spoke up, "And the Muggleborn students?"

"Our Lord is feeling generous today and has decided that we can snap their wands, Obliviate them, and send them on their way." Bellatrix laughed, "Which is more mercy than the filthy _mudbloods _deserve."

Draco tensed, "She's lying."

"Draco, wha—"

"The Dark Lord's idea of mercy is anything but merciful. There's no way he'd let any Muggleborn student leave the school alive." Draco spat.

Dumbledore seemed to have the same idea, "Of all the years I have known Tom, I have never known him to be this... kind."

"Tom? Who's Tom?" I whispered, feeling Draco shrug slightly in front me.

"You _dare_ call him by that _filthy_ name!" Bellatrix screeched, "You dare _spit_ on his offer!"

"I will not allow you to harm the students of this school, Bellatrix." Dumbledore warned, waving his wand quickly.

The Death Eaters with free wands quickly erecting shields, trying to stop Dumbledore's magic from reaching them. Bellatrix, however, took this as a declaration of war.

"_Kill them all_! Every single _filthy_ mudblood and blood traitor, make them bleed!" She shrieked, firing a familiar bright green curse at the student in her arms. The thud of a body hitting the ground seemed to echo throughout the Hall.

And then everything went to hell.

"Move, now!" Blaise shoved Draco and I to the ground behind the Hufflepuff table as a stunner zoomed over our head.

"We need to get out from under this table." Draco muttered. I glanced at the crowd of younger students hiding under the tables.

"What about them?" I gestured to the younger students. Draco shook his head.

"Lexi, Dumbledore's got people fighting here, they aren't our problem. If Bella gets ahold of either of us, we're dead. We need to _go_." Draco insisted, Blaise nodding along.

Another blast made us look up in surprise. More Order members were coming in, including...

George!

"George is here." I tried to move from behind the table, but Draco yanked me back down.

"Lexi. We're leaving. We'll make our way behind the staff table and through the chamber behind it, all right?"

"Draco, I can't just leave George to fight by himself!"

"He has his twin and half the Order to help him!" Blaise exclaimed, "If we get caught in this crossfire, they'll at best take us back to your parents, and at worst kill us."

I frowned, "They'll kill George and the rest of them no matter what. They _need_ us."

"They don't need us and they never have, Lexi! We need to save ourselves!"

I wrenched my arm out of his grasp and leapt from behind the table, "No, I'm going to help, you can come with me or not!"

"Lexi! Get back here!" Draco and Blaise scrambled after me.

I began to make my way across the hall, but dodging the spells flying through the air proved difficult, especially as I was still trying to pinpoint exactly where George had gone.

"_Protego!_" I yelled out as a violet streak of light came towards me. Draco pushed in front of me and fired a bright blue curse in return, causing the Death Eater in question to drop to the floor with a thud, clutching his throat. My eyes widened and I glanced at Draco curiously.

"Asphyxiation curse." He growled, motioning for Blaise to stay behind me so that they were effectively shielding me.

"Let's go." I nodded and moved forward, spying a flash of red hair.

George and Fred were duelling back-to-back against four Death Eaters, and holding their own quite well. It reminded me, suddenly, of a story my mother had told me once about the infamous (and quite dead) Prewitt twins, who had taken out five immensely talented Death Eaters in the fight that ended their lives.

"Let's get them and get out." Draco nodded towards Blaise, who set to work shielding us from any wayward spells while Draco fired off a curse at the back of one of the Death Eaters, causing him to cry out in pain as his wrist cracked.

Two fo the Death Eaters turned to face Draco and I, leaving George and Fred with one each.

"_Flipendo!_" I shot at the injured Death Eaters, knocking him back over the table. I turned my attention to Draco's duel in time to see a bright green jet of light zoom towards him.

"_NO!_" I shrieked, summoning a chair to take the curse instead, causing it to explode in midair and rain shards of wood down on all of us.

"_Expulso!_" Draco blasted the Death Eater away.

"George!"

"Lexi, _what_ are you doing here?!" George looked furious.

"I-"

"No! You think I want Nott or some other bloody creep to get ahold of you? This is when they'd do it. You need to get somewhere safe." He huffed, "Malfoy, get her out of here!"

I felt my temper flare, "I can take care of myse- _Draco!_" I was cut off as Draco yanked me away from the Great Hall, towards the chamber he'd wanted to make a quiet exit through earlier. Blaise followed, relieved.

"Let me _go!_" I fought against Draco's arms, glaring at George, who had gone back to fighting.

"Lexi, stop fighting me!" Draco roared, casting a spell at a Death Eater in our path. By now reinforcements had arrived for both sides.

Blaise opened the door and Draco shoved me through before they came in behind me, sealing the door with wave of his wand.

"You _assholes!_" I ran at the door, but Draco caught me around the waist. I turned and tried to shove him from me to no avail.

"We're trying to keep ourselves safe, Lex." Blaise went to the door leading to the Entrance Hall and sealed it as well.

"I don't need to be locked up like a child! I can fight!" I declared.

"Really?" Draco snapped, "When all you're using against a Death Eater is a stunning or disarming spell, that's not fighting, Lexi, and it would've gotten you killed!"

I looked down at my feet.

"I've been trained by Bellatrix, Blaise has learned some things from Damien and Theo, _we_ can handle ourselves! You're a fair duellist, Lexi, but I'm not willing to risk it against people who have been trained to kill and not even bat an eye over it!" Draco's eyes were blazing, "_Yes_, you fought my father and won but that was luck more than anything!"

I swallowed and kept quiet, not trusting myself to speak. Draco was right; I had no idea what a real, life-threatening duel was like. My experience so far amounted to petty duels with Granger and other Gryffindors in the corridors. I'd been lucky that his father hadn't tried to use a wand against me, otherwise I'd surely have ended up dead.

"Okay, Draco. What do we do?" I asked, glancing between him and Blaise.

"We need to leave Hogwarts. I don't know if they're just trying to attack and then leave, to scare all of Wizarding Britian, or if they are planning to take over the school, but either way, Hogwarts isn't safe for us anymore." Blaise decided.

I nodded. "So we need to get off the grounds so we can Apparate..."

Draco ran a hand over his face, "Which means we've got to leave this room."

Blaise sighed, "We're safe for now here, but how long til someone else gets the idea to come in? Our charms on the door won't hold forever."

"Better to leave on our terms than theirs." I added.

"Right." Draco nodded. "I'll take the lead, Lexi, you'll be in the middle, firing mainly defensive spells for our group-shields and whatnot. Focus on me up until we reach the doors, then focus on Blaise as we leave. Blaise, you bring up the rear." Draco paused, "Do whatever you have to, to get people to leave us alone."

Blaise and I nodded, glancing at each other nervously. Draco definitely had the most fighting experience out of the three of us. Anyone trained by Bellatrix Lestrange wasn't to be underestimated. Remembering that she was out there fighting, I shuddered, hoping we wouldn't run into her.

"Lex, you unseal and open the door." Draco instructed as we situated ourselves around the door.

I swallowed but nodded. Suddenly, staying in this tiny room, away from the fighting and the chance of being hit by a wayward hex-or worse-was very appealing. But Blaise was right. Sooner or later someone would think of breaking in, and we'd be trapped. I sighed and undid the locking charm on the door, then opened it.

We moved quickly into the corridor, noting that the fighting had spilled out of the Great Hall, but only a bit.

"Let's leave before anyone notices us-" Blaise stopped as his wand flew out of his hand. He scrambled to catch it while Draco tried to summon it. My eyes narrowed at Rodolphus Lestrange, who was now twirling the wand between his fingers.

"Going somewhere?" He raised an eyebrow. Draco preferred not to make idle chit-chat.

"_Sectrumsempra!"_ Rodolphus deflected the curse and shot one of his own back. Angered, I joined in.

"_Reducto!_" I aimed, not at him, but at the wall behind him, causing a blast that knocked him off his feet.

Draco summoned Blaises' wand and handed it to him. "Leaving, _now_." We scrambled out the door.

And straight into Theo Nott. Looking beyond where he was standing, I saw a shimmering wall, tinted green, that extended around the castle as far out and up as I could see.

A barrier. We were trapped.

"Excellent day for an ambush, am I right?" He grinned at us, me. I tightened the grip on my wand.

"You helped Damien get Death Eaters into the school." I stated.

"Obviously." Theo rolled his eyes, "As if Damien could've ever fixed that Vanishing Cabinet on his own. The Dark Lord's forces would've ended up in Japan if he were left in charge of it."

"We're leaving, Nott. Step aside." Draco drew his wand and stepped in front of me.

"But if you leave now, you'll miss all the fun." Theo pretended to scowl, "The Dark Lord won't take kindly you to leaving early, you know."

"The Dark Lord isn't going to get any of us, and you're not touching Lexi." Blaise snarled, "So move, before we make you."

"So hostile." Theo twirled his wand between his fingers.

"Nott, let us go." I ordered.

He stared at me for a moment. "The Dark Lord will probably torture all three of you when he arrives. He doesn't suffer blood traitors, as you know." He paused, "He might even kill the two of you." He gestured to Draco and Blaise.

Draco laughed, "If he kills us, you know he'll kill Lexi too."

Theo blinked, "I have faith that my Lord will reward me-"

"The Dark Lord doesn't have to keep any promises to _you, _Nott. You serve him; not the other way around." Blaise warned.

Nott wasn't having any of it. "What would you know, blood traitors?"

I swallowed nervously. Every minute we were here was more and more dangerous. We needed to leave; more importantly, we needed to get Theo to let us leave.

"Nott." I forced my voice to stay calm, looking him in the eyes. "If you don't let us go, I'll make sure the Dark Lord kills me, first, out of the three of us."

"Lexi!" Draco nearly yelped, but I ignored him.

"I'll taunt, and talk back, and insult him until he has no choice but to kill me. Or until Bella goes crazy enough with rage that she does it." I promised, "Then you doing this, it'll have been for nothing."

Theo's face remained blank, except for a tightening in his jaw that was almost impossible to notice. "You wouldn't dare. You don't want to die, Lexi. I know you don't."

I swallowed. Truthfully, I _didn't_. And I wasn't entirely sure that my threat was anything other than a giant bluff. But I continued on anyway, "I'd rather die than have to watch Draco and Blaise get killed."

In a second, Theo was fuming, "This is all because of your blood traitor boyfriend! Look t what he's done to you, he's ruining you!" He paused, "You're lying."

"Try me." I dared.

He glared at me for a moment, then ground out, "Get out now, the three of you. Before I change my mind." The shield fell for a moment and we moved past him.

"Draco, Blaise." Theo called after us, "Just so we're clear: the only reason I'm letting the two of you leave here today is because at the end of the day, you are no threat to me, or the Dark Lord. Don't think otherwise." The barrier went back up, an we couldn't see the school any longer.

We wasted no time in joining hands and Apparating.

* * *

We Apparated to Grimmauld Place, where we had stayed with the Order for the summer, because we really had no where else to go. We weren't sure if the Ministry was still safe, none of us really had homes to go to (other than Blaise), but most importantly, we wanted to know what happened, and figured Headdquarters was the best place to go and wait for information.

And we didn't have long to wait. Soon, the house filled with the sounds of those returning from battled, some being rushed upstairs so that their injuries could be treated, others yelling in various rooms. Draco, Blaise and I tried to ask for information, but no one seemed to hear us, or pay attention. It was a madhouse.

A crack signalling someone Apparating near us made me jump, and my eyes narrowed into a glare when I saw the-relatively unharmed-Weasley twins.

"You absolute _arse_!" I smacked my boyfriend on the shoulder, causing him to wince. Relatively unharmed or not, I felt no pity. "How dare you _send me away_ from battle like a child, a dog?!" I cried out.

"Lexi, I just wanted you safe-" George held his hands up, but I cut him off.

"And what about me? What about what I wanted? You are my _boyfriend_, not my _master_. If I wanted my freedom taken from me, I would've stayed with my parents!" I fumed, my anger building.

"Lexi, this really isn't the time-"

"Like _hell_ it isn't the time, George Weasley-"

"Lexi!" Draco interrupted, and I shook my head, noticing for the first time the twin's weary appearances.

"W-what happened?" I asked hesitantly. George looked at his twin, and sighed heavily, his voice shaking as he answered:

"Dumbledore's dead."

* * *

Ergh, bleh, bleh. I don't like this chapter, I'm not great at writing battle sequences and there was really no great point to end it on. Anway, this is why it took me so long to update, this chapter was actually probably the chapter I've had the most difficulty with in both of the stories in this series. Not only that, but I've recently moved across the country and am trying to find a job an adjust and whatnot, all very time consuming (and probably boring to hear about!)

Anyway, I hope you all somehow enjoyed it!

Up next: the battle is explained by those who were there, the fate of Hogwarts is revealed, George and Lexi continue their discussion, and Draco hears from his mother!

Thank you all so much for sticking with the story, it really means so much to me. You all rock!

-AJ


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